Externalities
by 873.25
Summary: Thugs, who had mistaken him for Shinichi Kudo, attacked Kaito. Conan stops the attack and tries to coax information about it out of Kaito, who for all he knows is a regular civilian. However, Conan is sent reeling as he finds the tables constantly turned on him due to him unknowingly underestimating the great Kaitou KID. Story complete.
1. Kaito meets Conan

Externalities

Thugs, who had mistaken him for Shinichi, attacked Kaito. The thugs, ironically, had also suspected Shinichi to be the real identity of Kaitou KID.

Conan stops the attack and tries to coax information out of Kaito, who for all he knows is a regular civilian. However, Conan is sent reeling as he finds the tables constantly turned on him due to him unknowingly underestimating the great Kaitou KID.

Ch. 1 Kaito meets Conan

There was something wrong.

There was something seriously wrong.

It was dark. Where was he? Oh his eyes are closed no wonder it was dark. Were those voices? Who's voice is that? Kaito struggled as he tried to crack open his heavy eyelids, only to drop them shut again as he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Had he been attacked? Is that why he could barely move? Goddamit who was talking to him?

Kaito snapped his eyes open and then immediately regretted it as the bright hospital lights assaulted his recovering brain. Groaning in discomfort, he forced himself to blink several more times to get himself used to the lights.

The boy groggily forced himself to sit up, but was met with a sharp pain in his head again. Well, at least it seemed his hands were in working order, he noted faintly as he examined his hands. Kaito slowly looked around the room as he tried to assess his situation.

Hospital bed, bandaged head, no other injuries other than minor scratches on hands, elbows, and knees. He assumed that those minor scratches were probably from falling on the ground or something. Kaito inwardly panicked as he tried to remember what had happened to him. It didn't seem like he was restrained in any way, and he didn't see anyone else in the room, so it probably didn't happen during one of his heists.

But what had happened? If not at a heist, why was some random unassuming high school kid like him injured in this way? He winced as he touched his head to check it. He took a couple deep breaths to calm down and think back. He started to remember that some random man had tried to attack him, but Kaito had dodged the initial blow. However, another person had suddenly shown up out of the shadows and tried to hit him as well. Kaito had reflexively dodged a blow to the face but had lost his balance and fallen over.

Being on the ground, he vaguely remembered a whooshing sound, a high-pitched yell, and a sharp pain in his head before he heard his attackers running away.

Kaito frowned. That was probably where he had lost consciousness.

His attackers had probably tried to finish him off when Kaito had fallen, but they had been distracted by a voice, and had missed giving him a fatal blow.

He guessed some random passerby had discovered the attack scene and had yelled in surprise, scaring off the thugs. But that voice that had yelled… it was familiar.

Where had he heard it before?

Kaito then remembered that he thought he had heard voices before he fully regained consciousness, but found no one was in the room with him. He jumped a little as he heard a knock, and looked over at the door to see that a nurse had come in.

"Oh you're awake. I'm so glad! Let me call the doctor so we can get you checked up okay?" she said, while Kaito just nodded numbly. "I'll be right back."

After getting checked by the doctor, and determining his injuries to be minor enough for him to be released within the day, Kaito blinked as a familiar looking police officer came into his hospital room, flashing his badge. Well, at least he was familiar to him as KID. "Kaito" the regular high school kid did not know this man.

"Hi. Sorry to bother you even though you've just woken up. However, if you're up to it, I'd like to ask you a few questions regarding your attackers." The officer asked apologetically. "They're still on the run so we want to know if you've seen their faces, or if you know them."

Kaito blinked as he silently inspected the officer, whom he knew to be Takagi, an officer in the homicide division. Since Kaito was not even close to dead, this was strange, and it put him on edge. "No, I didn't get to see their faces. They came out of nowhere." He answered slowly, "They're still out there? Have they attacked anyone else?"

"Ah, that's too bad." Takagi sighed, slumping his shoulders. "And no from what I know those two haven't managed to attack anyone else."

"But I do remember someone yelling before I got hit and lost consciousness." Kaito added on, "It was kind of a high pitched yell. I think someone found us and that's why those attackers ran away." He then frowned as he locked eyes with the nervous looking officer, "Were there only two? I couldn't tell how many there were. I thought there was only one at first so the second one caught me off guard. I blacked out soon after, so I don't really know the details."

Officer Takagi smiled nervously at the teenager who had an uncanny resemblance to the high school detective his superiors, and the strange boy Conan, put so much trust in. However, Conan, who was the one that had stopped the attack, had vehemently denied this teen to be the detective. Although the way the teen seemed to be calmly inspecting him was starting to make Takagi start to have his doubts about Conan's claims.

Takagi started as the teenager narrowed his eyes for a split second before he closed them and slowly laid back down on the hospital bed.

"Officer." Kaito muttered without opening his eyes, "Thank you for your service. And sorry I cannot be of much help."

"Ah, alright. No worries take care." Takagi said, startled at the strange reaction. Had the teen caught his bluff? Gosh darn Conan and his bad ideas! He knew he shouldn't have listened to the strange boy's 'request' to weasel information out of this strange Kudo look-alike.

Kaito, on the other hand, didn't know how to feel about this. He had realized from his short conversation with Officer Takagi that the high-pitched yell he had heard before blacking out was familiar because it was the little detective's voice. The boy probably asked Takagi to use his position as a police officer to try and get information out of him about the attack. However, considering Takagi is from a different division and was probably not assigned to this case, Takagi wasn't here on official business. From what Kaito knew about the man's personality, he probably would not be doing something this shifty if he didn't already know the thugs had been detained. Kaito's conviction that Takagi had lied about the men not being caught was further cemented by the fact that the man had mentioned with such certainty the number of his attackers.

What worried Kaito was why Conan didn't approach him directly at the hospital. It wouldn't have been strange to come talk to him, since Conan had been the one to save him after all. Another thing that bothered him was why the pipsqueak was so concerned over a failed mugging that ended up with the attackers detained and the victim only slightly injured. This should be a closed case.

Unless… _it might not be._ And if for some reason the shrunken detective could not disclose the reason to the police meant the stakes were potentially very high.

Kaito sighed again, knowing what he had to do. Saying Tantei-kun was intelligent was an understatement, but the kid was also a moron when it came to his sense of self-preservation. Even if Kaito managed to shake himself free of the kid, the boy would go back to the scene of the attack, alone, to find clues.

He suspected that Conan was afraid that this was an attack targeting Kudo, and that Kaito had been mistakenly targeted due to this looks.

However, for Kaito, being KID added another reason as to why Kaito wanted to find out more about this case. What if _he_ had been found out? If this was a targeted attack, what if it was really for him and not for Kudo? That would be a whole other can of worms.

What had Conan seen that made the boy suspect so much that this was no regular mugging? He had to see for himself what had put the boy on such high alert.

After being discharged from the hospital (like a normal human being, and not escaping like he would have liked to. With pipsqueak probably lurking around, he couldn't do anything that… "professional"), Kaito retraced his steps and went directly back to the scene of the attack. He knew Tantei-kun probably followed him there, but he paid no heed.

Kaito silently surveyed the alleyway with his sharp eyes, taking in everything in view. He carefully maneuvered his way through the narrow alleyway, crouching down and looking around potential hiding places. He then also looked up and around for good measure, checking the walls and windows for anything out of place or strange. He blinked as he noticed something, before he heard the faint scuffle of feet behind him. Kaito stood quietly, pretending not the notice.

It was probably just Tantei-kun who had decided to finally present himself, or an accomplice of the thugs that had come back to pick up evidence or finish him off.

His musings were answered, however, with one simple greeting.

"Hey nii-chan. What are you doing?"

Kaito turned around quickly to face the owner of the fake, sugary voice he knew all too well. Although the teen was feigning surprise so as to give no clues that he had already read Conan coming here, Kaito would be lying to himself if he denied being a little rattled. _Knowing_ he would have to face the detective as himself, and _actually_ finally "meeting" for the first time were two different things. It was a lot more unnerving than he had expected.

"Oh, a kid." Kaito muttered, after recovering from his 'surprise'. "Did you need something?"

"I asked." Conan repeated with that sugary voice again, "What are you doing?"

Kaito blinked, pretending to be troubled by the strange child. "I was looking for something. Sorry if I surprised you. Am I trespassing on your parent's property or something?"

"Ah, no." Conan answered, taken aback at the apologetic attitude of the teen. "I heard someone was attacked here earlier today by some scary people, so I got suspicious when I saw you poking around here all quiet by yourself."

"Oh, I see. Sorry again for scaring you then." Kaito replied, smiling reassuringly, "I'm actually the one that got attacked, so I'm here to see if those people left any clues behind as to why they did that to me." Kaito frowned, confused, "I don't know them after all, and I'm just some random teenager."

"But nii-chan, aren't you scared you'll get attacked again?" Conan pressed. Goddamn the kid was persistent.

"Not really, I think the police may have caught them by now. Although I never got to meet them, I think there was a witness when I got attacked, and that's who saved me." Kaito replied, shrugging. "That witness will probably be sure to provide the police with enough details to catch the thugs." He then frowned at the boy in front of him. "but the better question is, aren't _you_ scared? A little kid like you shouldn't be hanging around attack scenes like this."

"But… wait. Don't you know who I am?" Conan asked, feigning hurt; his voice cracking a little at the end. "Nii-chan? Have you forgotten me?"

Kaito jolted back, startled. He could play this game. "No… should I know you?"

Conan blinked, before he shook his head, pretending to clear his head. "I… sorry nii-chan. You just look exactly like a relative of mine, so I thought you were him."

"Oh. Sorry to disappoint you then." Kaito frowned, "Do you not see your relative that often?"

"huh?" Conan blinked.

"I mean, considering you're mistaking a completely different person like me as him, you must not know him that well." Kaito pointed out.

"That's true. I don't get to see him much. We talk a lot though." Conan replied, not missing a beat. "Sometimes I wonder if it is even him I am talking to over the phone. He may be dead for all I know."

 _Covering your bases I see._ Kaito thought. _But I'm not playing into your traps._ "Well let's hope not!" he replied, smiling tiredly. "I've got to go now. It's getting late, I'm tired, and it seems like there were no clues left here." He stated simply, and turned around and started walking away, leaving Tantei-kun gaping in his wake.

"Nii-chan wait! Don't leave me here!"

"What, lost your way?"

"Yes! Don't leave me here. To be honest, I came all the way here without really looking where I was going because I thought you were my relative! Please help me get home!"

"Call someone then. Don't you have a phone?"

"But I don't know where I am."

"There's a police station right there." Kaito answered, refusing to dance. "They'll help you out."

He was about to start walking away again when his phone started buzzing. Deciding it was a waste of time to try and get Conan out of earshot, Kaito didn't hesitate to grab his phone and answer it right away. "Hello?"

" _Kaito-kun!"_

"OW!" Kaito flinched, jerking his phone away from his ear. Inspector Nakamori had an impressive volume as usual. He just wished he'd refrain from doing that on the phone. "Calm down old man! What did I do now?"

" _What did you do? You got into trouble again that's what! I heard from a colleague that you got attacked by some thugs in an alleyway and got hospitalized. Are you okay? You haven't escaped from the hospital have you?"_

"I'm fine. The injuries were minor, and no, I got discharged from the hospital and left normally." Kaito muttered, eyeing the small detective beside him who was pretending not to be interested in the conversation. "By the way, have you heard any details about those thugs that attacked me?"

" _Well, apparently during the interrogation, the thugs admitted to being hired by someone to take out either Kaitou KID or a teenage detective named Shinichi Kudo."_

Kaito froze, taking in the strange information, before choking out a response, "What?" He trembled a little, and composed himself before he continued speaking, "OR or AND? And… how do I fit in? I'm neither."

" _Well that's the strange part. About you, apparently they mistook you for the Kudo boy, but as for their employers, apparently they suspect the Kudo boy to be KID. However, they're not sure, so they wanted at least one dead. They haven't been able to find Kudo so they were going to take out KID first but, they found you and decided to act on it."_

"What?" Kaito felt like a broken record, not sure if he should feel relieved, incredulous, or terrified. "They think they're one and the same? That's ridiculous."

" _Yes, but that's the intel your potential murderers acted upon, so we can't laugh about it. Either way, we need to find the Kudo boy to warn him about this."_

"Are they… did they say anything more about their employers?" Kaito pressed, trying to stay focused despite the terrible news. The increasing intensity of the stare Tantei-kun was giving him from nearby really wasn't helping things. Perhaps the boy sensed they were talking about him.

" _No they said they only received instructions indirectly, through phones and e-mails, all of which they couldn't trace. They said they only took the job because the money was good."_

Kaito paled. Which one was it? Which person were these people after? Was their main target the detective or the thief? Depending on which, this attack held a whole different meaning. Either way, he had to get old man Nakamori uninvolved. The time was not yet right… for either meaning.

"Well hopefully those two thugs that attacked me stay safe in jail at the very least. You never know, their employers may come back to silence them. They sound like insane conspiracy theorists after all."

" _You think so?"_

"Well of course. I mean, a homicide detective being a phantom thief? Not in a million years!" Kaito laughed, knowing that by now, Conan wasn't even trying to hide his curiosity. "Besides, who out there would want to _kill_ either of them? There may be unhinged individuals, but surely no serious threatening people. That's crazy."

He saw out of the corner of his eye Conan paling at what he had said. Kaito then dodged the boy's attempt at grabbing his phone away from him before he stated a cheery goodbye to Nakamori and hung up the phone.

"So" Kaito said, smiling down at the slightly panicked looking boy, "I'm going home." He stated simply and tried to walk off before he was predictably tackled by the squirt. 

"Please!" Conan yelled desperately, clinging on to the teen's legs, "What was that call about? Please let me know. It might concern someone…I…know."

Kaito pretended to consider it, even though he had never intended to leave the detective hanging without telling him anything. Kaito wasn't stupid. Who knows what the pipsqueak would end up doing to force the info out of him?

"Well, do you know somewhere we can talk in private?" He whispered, crouching down so he could be at eye-level with the boy. "I just heard something crazy from a police officer that I know, but it's so crazy I don't want anyone else hearing it and getting the wrong idea." He added on, "Really. Promise it will stay between you and me. Got it?"

Conan nodded, looking relieved, determined, and concerned at the same time. "I know a place" he said, "It's a bit of a walk from here though. Do you have time?"

"Yes." Kaito replied, smiling. Conan was undoubtedly taking this chance to lead him into a potential trap. This little bastard was ruthless after all. Kaito was kind of glad this 'child' only came to _some_ of his heists.

Conan, on the other hand, was still very confused about the teen that he was currently leading to Agasa's house. This boy, so far, has presented himself to be harmless, and just an unfortunate look alike of his older self. However, this boy was also obviously very sharp. He had somehow seen through Takagi's lies, and the fact that the teen got a personal phone call from a police officer informing him about details regarding his attackers peaked his interest as well.

It didn't seem like the teen was heavily involved with the police, but knew someone personally that was high ranking enough to get recent info about a case they were not directly assigned to. Besides, Conan would have known if there was a teenage Kudo look alike heavily involved with the police.

Not only that, the teen had realized that there was more to this case, and had come back to the scene of the crime to look for clues. However, he had refused to question Conan, who had come as an 'easy' source of information about Kudo, and had also practically told his police officer 'friend' that there is not much more to the case. The teen's actions were strange.

He had also tried to get rid of Conan as soon as possible, and almost managed to do so, but had suddenly changed his mind and was now allowing Conan to lead him to a place where presumably, no one else could hear them talk, just to inform a child about something the teen had dismissed as an 'insane conspiracy theory'.

At this point, Conan was feeling slightly played, and wondered if maybe he should take him somewhere else. Somewhere more open and less risky. Well, less risky for Conan and scarier for the teen, if, the boy was anyone shady.

The more he thought about it, the worse of an idea it seemed to introduce this weird teen to one of his bases of operations.

Instead, the pair ended up standing in front of Poirot, the café underneath the Mouri detective agency. Here, he know the teen would have a much harder time trying anything funny if he was involved with the Black organization at all. Or if he were some other shady character, he would have a harder time escaping without leaving any clues. What Conan did not expect was…

"No." Kaito stated, frowning as he looked at the café. "This is a very public place. Under a famous detective agency, of all places!" Kaito added, shaking his head. "Worst place to discuss crazy things that shouldn't be overheard, don't you think? As I said, I don't want anyone hearing us and getting the wrong idea."

"But" Conan was about to retort, before they were interrupted by a female yelling.

"Shinichi?!"

Conan flinched as he heard Ran yell from down the street. She was running over with Sonoko in tow, looking angry and happy at the same time. Conan noticed, however, that the teen he had been with was not paying her any heed and was still looking down at Conan as if their conversation had not been interrupted at all. Well, if the teen had no connection to Shinichi Kudo, then their conversation, for all he was concerned, really hadn't been disrupted at all.

"Well? Are we going to change places, or should I go home? It was really something stupid after all." Kaito muttered impatiently, still frowning at Conan, who now seemed a bit distracted by the Mouri girl.

Although Kaito knew the girl was yelling at him, he wasn't going to respond to her until she was really in his face, because, Kaito wasn't supposed to know this 'Shinichi' after all.

"Shinichi! Why are you ignoring me?!" An angry Ran yelled, finally getting right into a bewildered and slightly scared looking Kaito's face.

"Who? What?" Kaito stuttered, stumbling back.

"Are you trying to deny knowing me?" Ran asked, looking hurt. "You think that wearing a hat counts as a disguise? Do you realize how worried I've been all this time you were gone?" she continued, unable to stop herself, "And now you have the nerve to show up unannounced, and say 'who?!'"

Conan jumped in front of Kaito, pushing his childhood friend away in order to get her out of the other teen's face. "Ran-neechan! You've got this all wrong! This isn't Shinichi-niichan!" he yelled, waving his hands around. "This guy really doesn't know who you are! You're scaring him!"

Ran stumbled back, shocked at the claims of her young housemate, and blinked as she looked again at her 'not' childhood friend. Conan was usually right about things, and that would explain the standoffish attitude of the teen in front of her but… he looked so… "Is this true? You're not…Shinichi?"

"No" Kaito replied, relieved to be able to finally get a word in. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know who you are talking about."

"Wait, but then, what are you doing here with that kid?" Sonoko demanded, stepping forward and trying to hide her now sorely embarrassed friend. "This is too coincidental!" She hmphed.

Kaito sighed, his day really was not going well. Figures the longer he hung out with Tantei-kun, the scarier his day would become. Not only was he now being confronted with someone who could destroy concrete with her bare hands, he was also being yelled at by a Suzuki. Since chances of a private conversation with the mini detective seemed to have gone out of the window, Kaito decided it was high time to leave once and for all; detective after his tail or not.

"Well this boy here got lost following me because he thought I was someone else. After he confronted me and realized he got the wrong person, I attended him back home." Kaito realized his slip-up just as he finished saying it.

"Niichan, I never said this was my home." Conan was quick to bite.

Kaito didn't miss a beat. "Isn't it though? Aren't you the boy from the Mouri detective agency? You're in the papers sometimes."

"If you knew who I was, why didn't you say so earlier?" Conan pressed.

"I wasn't sure until you led me here."

"Wait, didn't you just say the brat here was lost?" Sonoko interrupted, frowning. "Then why do you claim he was the one that led you here? You're making no sense."

"I meant he claimed to be lost and we were looking for any place that seemed familiar to him. Then we ended up here and I realized he wasn't actually lost." Kaito replied, frowning as well. "I mean, come on why don't you ask the kid here why he brought me here? I'm the one in the dark at this point you know."

Conan panicked as all eyes looked to him. Goddamit this teen lied smoothly like it was no tomorrow! Plus he lied like he _knew_ Conan _couldn't_ spill the truth! "Well I…" he was really at a loss for words. Did this strange teen win? Was he going to have to let him go before having a chance to speak to him privately? He needed to keep a connection, at the very least. "I was curious." Conan managed, deciding to keep things simple. "I was curious about the guys that attacked you earlier today, nii-chan!"

Kaito started, shocked that Conan would come at him from that facet. It was such a weak link, it was pretty much up to Kaito if he would take the bait or not.

"You got attacked?" Ran asked, looking apologetic, "Sorry I…yelled at you like that on top of all of that."

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault I was attacked, and there was no way you could have known." Kaito replied, waving off the concern while simultaneously weighing his options. "The attackers are already caught as well." Kaito then sighed, making up his mind as he peered at the nervous looking boy's face again. "and this boy here was the one that stopped the attackers and saved me, so I guess I owe him one." The teen then crouched down to face the boy head on again. It was a gamble, but this connection was a long time coming anyway.  
"Here, lend me your phone. I'll send myself a message from there so you'll know how to contact me."

Conan's face lit up in relief, before he happily handed him a cell phone. Kaito took it, thankful that it was autumn and therefore he had an excuse to be wearing gloves while touching this little sleuth's phone. He quickly typed out a message and sent it to himself. "I contained my phone number in the message as well, so call me if that's better for you." Kaito informed the boy as he handed the phone back. Hopefully, now, the boy would not go to drastic measures to get more information out of him.

"Thanks nii-chan." Conan just replied, looking surprised and a little confused at his luck. "I'll be sure to contact you."

"Right" Kaito answered, and smiled gently at him before ruffling the boy's hair and standing up. "Talk to you later, and take care, all of you." He added on, smiling at the other two girls before walking away with a casual wave of his hand.

Conan was…bewildered. Had he just been outsmarted and then shown mercy? What the hell _was_ that guy?! And to top it all off, it turned out that the teen had known this entire time that Conan had been the one to have found the teen being attacked. Which meant… he had known Conan had been lying from the moment they met each other in that alleyway? Dear god this teen was turning out to be way slippier than Conan would have ever imagined.

"Hey brat!" Conan was snapped out of his mini shock as Sonoko yelled into his ear.

"Wha-what?" He grumbled, nursing his ringing ears.

"Are you…okay?" She asked in a rare display of concern. "You just look shocked. Is all."

"Well he…he…" Conan stuttered uncharacteristically, still honestly reeling from the realization "he outsmarted me!" he burst out despite himself. And then turned bright red as he realized he had said this out loud.

That outburst earned him peals of laughter from Sonoko and a chuckle from Ran, making Conan flush deeper in his shame.

"That's what you get for messing with adults!" Sonoko yelled, still laughing, "you sound like you can't believe someone way older than you outsmarted a brat like you!"

"Come now Sonoko, don't laugh so much" Ran added, though unable to contain her own giggles at the cute outburst from the usually composed Conan. "Come on, I'll treat you to cake from Poirot. Maybe you'll feel better that way."

"No it's oka-" Conan didn't get to voice his protest, however, as Sonoko grabbed him by the arm and dragged him inside the café.

"Come on, you'll have to tell us about the detective geek look alike!"

\- ch 2. preview

 _As they settled down at the café, Conan grimaced as, predictably, Amuro came ambling towards them to 'make small talk'._

" _So I heard Conan-kun got outsmarted by someone. Is this true?" the man asked as he brought over their drinks._


	2. Conan meets Kaito

Ch.2 Conan meets Kaito

As they settled down at the café, Conan grimaced as, predictably, Amuro came ambling towards them to 'make small talk'.

"So I heard Conan-kun got outsmarted by someone. Is this true?" the man asked as he brought over their drinks.

"Yes!" Sonoko stated gleefully, laughing again, much to Conan's chagrin. "After that guy left, Conan stared after him, and sputtered ' _He…he…outsmarted me!'_ " She then laughed again after imitating the boy's moment of shock.

"Is this true?" Amuro repeated the question, interest peaking about a character that could have outsmarted the brilliant boy. "Who was this?"

"I don't know" Conan muttered, not meeting his eyes and sighing. "yet." He added on as if to reassure himself.

"Wow." Amuro simply stated. This was a formidable person indeed. "What did he look like?"

Conan buried his face in his hands in response, as Ran blushed and Sonoko started laughing again. "What? Did he look that strange?" Amuro pressed, confused about the strange reactions that simple question got him.

"He looked exactly like Shinichi Kudo." Conan muttered, sighing. "It wasn't him though. He also wasn't in disguise. This guy was injured in the head earlier today, and I saw him at the hospital where he was treated."

"How do you know it really wasn't this Kudo guy?" Amuro pressed. He trusted the boy's judgment, but he didn't always trust his honesty. Now that he thought of it, wasn't the Kudo boy supposed to be dead? Did Conan know he was dead? Obviously the Mouri girl and her friend didn't seem to know, but he assumed someone like Conan would have to know. Especially since it seemed like he had close ties with the Kudo parents.

"Because Shinichi-niichan is…" Conan started, pondering how he should put this "not like that guy at all."

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah, even you said you mistook him, you brat!" Sonoko added on, earning Conan a suspicious look from Amuro. _Could it be? Shinichi Kudo…also alive? Considering how he fooled us with Akai, maybe…_

"No! Sonoko-neechan, I lied about that!" Conan answered, noticing the look on Amuro's face, "I only said that to get him to talk to me. I knew it wasn't him."

"So how _did_ you know?" Now Ran had also joined into the fray, "Conan-kun, you always seem to be able to tell the real Shinichi from a fake the moment you see him. How?"

 _Because I'm him!_ Conan thought, exasperated, while he wondered how he was going to get out of this. Obviously he needed to make Amuro think Conan 'knew' Shinichi was dead, while still trying to sound credible to the girls.

"You know, don't you?" Amuro asked. _You know that he's dead?_ Was the hidden question.

Conan nodded, glad the man had given him a way out for one of his problems. Even if the understanding the other had was wrong, he could live with that.

"Conan-kun? Amuro-san? What do you mean, 'know'?" Ran asked, frowning. "Conan-kun, I've suspected this several times before, but, you know where Shinichi is, don't you? You always keep tabs on him and him on you, right?"

"I…" Conan faltered, and looked away. What could he say? She was kind of right after all. "Well no I don't." he pondered his next response. "I just kind of, know. It's a gut feeling." He finished lamely.

Amuro shook his head at him while Ran and Sonoko gave him disbelieving looks, but they dropped the topic after that. Perhaps they realized they weren't getting anything more out of him over this, and they were right. Either way, Conan had to get out of the café as soon as possible to mull over what had happened earlier today, and to prepare for his next encounter with the strange individual.

Kaito, on the other hand, sighed for the billionth time today, as he finally got home and flopped onto his bed. Dealing with a suspicious Tantei-kun meant he couldn't slip up at _all_. The fact that he had to spend time at a public restroom checking himself for hidden tracking or listening devices after an encounter with a little _brat_ proved the extremeness of the situation. "He's _insane!_ " Kaito muttered to himself, sighing again. He was really glad to be home. The day had tired him out after all, and he wasn't sure if it was the seemingly peaceful time he spent chatting with Tantei-kun or if it was the almost getting murdered in an alleyway that had pooped him out more.

Knowing Tantei-kun would be desperately trying to fill in the holes of their encounter in order to understand every little detail, Kaito quickly sat up and hopped over to his desk to write out everything he had said and hadn't said with the pipsqueak in tow. Kaito knew he had the advantage at the moment, because he knew more about his opponent, Tantei-kun, than the boy did about Kaito.

He knew he hadn't made any major slip-ups, and had given the boy practically nothing to work with, but reviewing just in case wouldn't hurt.

"Well first things first…" Kaito muttered, licking his lips. It was ironic that casual conversations with a grade-schooler required more focus than planning one of his simpler heists. "What characteristics about me will Tantei-kun be writing out in his notebook of his to figure me out?"

 _* called Takagi's bluff (how?)_

 _* came to investigate scene (why?)_

 _* ignored child's lies (pretending not to have seen the attackers)_

 _* did not ask about to clarify who is child's "relative" despite several mentions_

* _tried to leave scene quickly (did he find something? Or nothing?)_

 _* tried to get rid of child_

 _**phone call**_

 _* tried to leave again, but decided to talk with child after phone call_

* _willing to talk to child in a private place_

 _* refuses Poirot (why? Because public place and by a detective agency? Or because he figured out "Conan" was lying about being lost? Figures out boy's identity around now?)_

 _* no reaction to being mistaken as a "Shinichi". Again, doesn't clarify who this is. (doesn't care about being mistaken? Or already knows who he's being mistaken as?)_

 _* tries to leave again, using lies that could easily be exposed by Conan (does he know Conan wouldn't say the truth? How?)_

 _* gives Conan contact info, both e-mail and phone number. (directly into phone, gloves. Why give Conan mode of contact?)_

 _****phone call**** details:_

 _Called "Kaito-kun" by caller. Older man? Police officer concerned about teen's injuries._

 _Kaito is surprised by something._

Conan paused in his note taking to listen to his recording of the conversation again. He had only managed to get this 'Kaito's side of the conversation, but it was enough.

 _Attackers think a 'homicide detective' and 'phantom thief' are the same (Kudo and KID?), and were hired to take one or both out. Kaito was mistaken as one of them. Probably Kudo. (which means Kaito is aware who he is being mistaken as) Kaito dismisses the employers as 'insane conspiracy theorists' and encourages police officer to lay off case._

Conan rubbed his temples as he tried to remember the careful teen's face as he was having the conversation, and wrote down a phrase that had been strangely specific

" _OR or AND?"_ _presumably talking about the thugs targeting Kudo and/or KID. Why does Kaito care if it is OR or AND? Especially since he claims he is neither._

Kaito scratched his head as he looked down at his notes to see if he had missed anything the pipsqueak may be pondering. Then he proceeded to cross out what Tantei-kun, or any other person who did not know Kaito to be KID would dismiss as easily explainable, or unimportant info, and was left with a much shorter list.

* _Name: Kaito_

 _* has connections with an older man (police officer) who has access to fresh case details and willing to spill info to him (possibly only because Kaito was the victim)_

 _* reads Conan would not expose his lie and successfully leaves Ran and co. (maybe because he told Conan not to spill the beans earlier? Either way, good people reader and manipulator.)_

 _* Kaito is aware he was mistaken as Kudo. - mentions nothing of it to Conan or Ran, who did the same thing (cold, but nothing…that bad? Or maybe doesn't want to worry Kudo's friends and family?)_

 _* Kaito dismisses the thug's employers as 'insane conspiracy theorists' and encourages police officer to lay off case. (does he really believe that? Maybe…that's why he only decided to humor Conan, since he felt he owed him for saving the teen, but didn't want 'real' authority like Detective Mouri hearing about it.)_

 _* "OR or AND?"_ _presumably talking about the thugs targeting Kudo and/or KID. Why does Kaito care if it is OR or AND? Especially since he claims he is neither._

"Or or and?" Conan muttered, tapping the phrase thoughtfully. Usually, he would have dismissed the question as being a spur of the moment clarification, especially since the phrase had come out very early in the phone conversation, but the teen had looked frightened. Which was out of place. "Or maybe… he was concerned because he's often mistaken as Kudo and wants to know if he would be safe if KID was killed?" The boy muttered, frowning and creasing his brows. He then tapped his forehead with his pen before crossing out the phrase that he had initially thought to be weird.

"Okay…." Conan muttered, looking down at his final list. These were the things he knew he had to double check to determine if…. if this teen was even worth his time.

Granted the young man was sharp, and had the misfortune of having an uncanny visual resemblance to Shinichi Kudo, but if that was all that connected this Kaito to this unfortunate attack, Conan had no reason to stay interested in the otherwise regular civilian.

* _Name: Kaito_

 _* has connections with ranked police officer_

 _* good people reader and manipulator_

 _* aware of own resemblance to Kudo_

Conan frowned as he looked over the list. It was almost uncanny how little information he had been left with. If the teen hadn't picked up the phone call, Conan literally would have had nothing. Well, maybe perhaps age range and looks, but that would have been about it.

 _Have I really just been overthinking this guy? Is he really just some random teenager that got mixed up in a case purely due to his looks?_

Kaito had moved to the living room, practicing some magic tricks to make sure his earlier injuries weren't interfering with his accuracy, by the time Conan had finally decided to send him a message. "Finally!" Kaito exclaimed, flipping open his phone to see Tantei-kun's next move, "' _can we meet at the family restaurant in Beika at 11:30am tomorrow.'"_ He read out loud. "Yes. See you tomorrow." Kaito muttered out loud as he typed out his extremely vanilla response and hit 'send' immediately.

Hopefully, if things went by without a hitch, by the time Kaito finished this second chat with Tantei-kun the mini detective would dismiss him as some boring civilian and forget about Kaito's existence forever. Despite how fun Tantei-kun could prove to be at heists, he was just bad for his health in everyday life.

Conan sighed as he looked over at his desolate conclusions again. Although it pissed him off to no end that this guy had outsmarted him, if there was no reason to dig into this guy's background, his initial interest in the guy had faded. Conan then wondered idly if this Kaito guy knew that by looking like Kudo, it also meant he looked like KID. From what he knew, the general public did not know this tidbit of information, and Conan doubted Inspector Nakamori even believed this assumption. "Maybe this Kaito guy _is_ KID." Conan muttered, laughing hollowly at his own stupid joke. Maybe he would try saying that to the teen, just to see if he would get a reaction out of that composed face for throwing such a ridiculous claim at him. The attack _had_ been for either Kudo or the thief, after all.

He felt a flash of guilt about that, now that he thought about it. An innocent look alike had been hurt; almost _killed_ because of his and the thief's unconventional lifestyles. "I should at least let him know the threat is real." Conan mused out loud, "That's the least I can do."

Kaito arrived early at the restaurant, seating himself 10 minutes before the appointed time. Although the place was crowded, he had confidence in the little detective that he'd be able to find his way. Kaito had been to this particular restaurant a couple times in the past, so he knew his way around. His eyes swept over the spacious restaurant, making note of any changes since his last visit a few months prior. He absentmindedly wondered if those little changes he found were indications that a murder would occur in this restaurant today, considering Tantei-kun would be gracing it with his presence.

Kaito frowned, hoping to God that a murder really didn't happen. That would be terrible in many different ways. Not only would it suck to have someone die, Tantei-kun probably wouldn't come with any scapegoats (i.e. Detective Mouri, the Suzuki girl, or that weird professor) and may turn the dart on him. Not only that, he'd also have to be questioned by the police on the spot, and that would make things too easy for the little kid to find out who he was and where he lived. Although he knew that Conan could figure out those things on his own if he were really curious, Kaito didn't really want to give him a reason to wonder or know.

Kaito sipped on his glass of water while he absentmindedly pondered other terrible scenarios that could happen during his short meeting with the detective. _Let's see… I already covered murder. I could get mistaken for Kudo again and get attacked, although… getting attacked seems unlikely in this setting. Hakuba could burst in and join us, which would also be unlikely since he's not in the country, AND he wouldn't know that I'm here. A fake KID heist occurs? That's unlikely too since it's the middle of the day. The kiddo could bring along a weird chaperone? Good thing that Hattori guy lives far away but, wait… what if he brought along Sera? Or that psycho that works in the café under the Mouri Agency?_ Kaito got goosebumps as he remembered his not so friendly encounter with that 'Bourbon' or whatever on the Bell Tree Express. _Why is he still working there again? What the hell is Tantei-kun thinking leaving that psycho around?_

 _Or maybe-_

"Hey what are you thinking about?"

A voice jolted Kaito out of his thoughts, making him choke on his water in surprise. He whipped his head around and noticed a small, bespectled boy sitting across from him, giving him a bored look while leaning on his hand with elbow propped up on the table.

"Uh, nothing!" Kaito gasped out, before coughing to get the water out of the wrong tract. "Sorry, didn't notice you there." He finished, thumping his chest for good measure. The teen then looked over at the boy again, and noted with relief that he had not come with any of the crazy chaperones he had feared. Actually, he hadn't come with anyone else at all, which led Kaito to wonder if Conan was usually allowed to wander around alone, or if he was just good at escaping supervision. He assumed the latter.

"That's okay. It's pretty loud in here after all, since there are a lot of people here." Conan replied, giving him that fake childish smile. "But oniichan, why was it okay to talk here, but not at Poirot?"

"Poirot?" he feigned ignorance. Displaying too good a memory had hurt him before after all. For some reason, he remembered a certain heist involving a clock tower with that mysterious strategist. Who was behind that day anyway? Satan?

"That café underneath the Detective Agency."

"Oh, _that_ place?" Kaito blinked, wondering where the boy was going with this line of questioning, "It looked like a small, family owned café at a time when it wasn't that crowded. It would be easier to be overheard there. While _here_ , this is a large, chain restaurant at crowded time, so less people would be likely to hear us." He explained, and then looked quizzically at Conan, "Wait, wasn't that why you suggested this time and place?"

"Oh! That makes sense!" Conan replied, pretending to be impressed, "No I hadn't even thought of that! So that's why old man Mouri told me this place would be good!"

"Huh, so it was Detective Mouri that suggested this time and place. And here I was sitting impressed with the famed KID killer." Kaito replied, not believing a single word Conan had just said. "Speaking of KID, let's get on topic. I'll let you know what I heard yesterday."

"Ok." Conan replied, hastily taking out his notebook. _Man, this guy wasted no time._ "I'm ready."

"The people that attacked me were bad people that were told by other bad people to kill either Shinichi Kudo or Kaitou KID." Kaito said, trying his hardest to sound like he actually believed Conan to be a real 7 year old while informing said child about attempted murder. "Uh, I'm guessing the 'relative' you mistook me for _was_ Shinichi Kudo, right?"

"Right." Conan replied, nodding. "And do you know why the bad people wanted them killed?"

"No. The police found the two people that attacked me and put them in jail, but they could not find the bad people's bosses, because there was not enough information."

Kaito then continued, tapping his chin, pretending to be confused. "And… here is the crazy part: it seems the bad people suspect…uh, I mean, they think your relative is Kaitou KID."

Conan blinked, deciding to ignore how the teen assumed Conan didn't know what 'suspect' meant, he pondered the meaning of the bit of information. Does that mean those 'employers' know what Kaitou KID looks like? If so, that made things even more confusing, because then he couldn't tell if their actual target was him or KID.

"Kaito-niichan, that's crazy."

"Yeah isn't it?" Kaito affirmed, pretending not to notice that he had never told the boy his name, "Kaitou KID started his heists like, 20 years ago. Isn't your relative in high school?"

"Yes, he's 17." Conan replied, satisfied that he at least got the boy's first name. "But unlike my relative, the public never knew Kaitou KID behind his mask; so for all we know this current one may be a different person."

Kaito shrugged, "I guess you're right. But in that case, what if that detective really _is_ Kaitou KID?" he internally laughed as he saw Conan blanch at the suggestion being thrown back at him. "Come to think of it, he never has shown up at a KID heist, and Kudo would probably be smart enough to pull those off."

"Uh, um… I guess." Conan stuttered, not being able to retaliate without giving away too much about himself. "but does that mean those bad people know what KID looks like, and thinks Shinichi-niichan looks like him?"

"Hey you've been to a lot of KID heists; do _you_ know what the phantom thief looks like?" Kaito asked, peering over at Conan. "Are you sure it's not your detective relative?"

Conan glared at the teen, frustrated as he found himself being forced to give more information than he was gaining. "I'm pretty sure Shinichi-niichan is NOT a thief." He huffed, "And you know, I've seen KID's face, and he kind of looks like you."

"Bingo! And I look like this Shinichi-niichan of yours." Kaito replied, laughing. He then grabbed the glasses off of Conan's face, and grinned at the bewildered boy. "And as a matter of fact, so do you! There are so many of us!"

"Hey! Give those back!" Conan yelled, scrambling for his glasses.

"Wow are these fa-" Kaito froze as he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, and Conan took that moment of distraction to snatch the glasses back from the teen. Kaito ignored the nasty glare Tantei-kun was giving him as he took the offending device out of his pocket to check who was calling.

He could almost feel the nosy detective peering at the caller screen on his phone as well, and was almost glad it was an unknown number.

Kaito could guess who was calling though, as it was an unknown number from overseas. There were only two people who knew his personal phone number outside of Japan, and there was only one who would bother to call his phone.

"Aren't you going to answer your phone?" Conan asked, still sounding a little sour as he put his glasses back on.

"No." Kaito said, pressing the 'end' button on his phone for good measure. He didn't feel like dealing with Hakuba right now, or ever, if he could help it. Plus, what the hell was that guy doing up at this hour? Wasn't it the middle of the night in London right now?

"It was from overseas. It could have been an important call."

"Yea it could've been important. But I hung up." Kaito replied, shrugging.

"You knew who that was, didn't you?" Conan stated disapprovingly, "International calls aren't cheap you know."

The phone started buzzing again, and Kaito rolled his eyes as he saw it was the same international caller again.

"Maybe you should pick up."

The teen heaved a heavy sigh before reluctantly answering. "What?"

" _Kuroba-kun."_ Hakuba snapped on the other end of the line, _"As always, you test my patience."_

"You and me both." Kaito grumbled, "What is SO important that you have to bother me from overseas?"

" _What do you know about Chat Noir?"_

"Huh?"

" _Don't 'huh?' me, Kuroba. I know you were there the one time the French thief, Chat Noir, came to Japan to steal the last Cat's Eye jewel."_

"Yes. I went with the Inspector."

" _as Aoko-san?"_

"NO! _with_ her and the Inspector." Kaito snapped, "I'm not in the mood for your usual antics. What about her do you want to know?"

" _About Aoko-san?"_

"NO! Chat Noir! Are you jet-lagged or something?" 

" _Oh so Chat Noir is a lady."_ Hakuba answered smoothly, in that stupid, condescending voice of his, _"What is her purpose for stealing?"_

"I…I don't know." Kaito snapped, "Is she stealing again?"

" _So what if she is? Don't you keep up with international thieving news? Or are you an exclusive fan of Kaitou KID?"_

"I'm pretty domestic." Kaito grumbled, frowning, "I'm hanging up if you don't get to your point."

" _Fine. She hasn't stolen yet, but there has been a heist declaration made in her name."_

"To take what?"

" _Some brooch that used to be owned by Marie Antoinette."_

"Was that brooch really owned by her?"

" _Yes I assume so."_

"Then uh, it's probably not her."

" _What?"_

"She only takes those cat eye jewels, right? They're all gone now so that's a fake Chat Noir, duh." Kaito said, hoping Hakuba would take the hint and drop it, "Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"

" _Not as smart as you, Kuroba-kun."_ Hakuba answered coolly, _"Thank you for the intel. Take care."_

"Don't call again." Kaito grumbled, before all too eagerly hanging up the phone. He then looked over at Conan to apologize for the phone call, and blinked as he saw an empty seat. Looking around, he almost jumped out of his seat as he realized the squirt had moved to sit _next_ to him rather than stay _across_ like a normal human being.

The way the boy was looking at him did not make Kaito feel better in the slightest either. What the hell was he thinking?

"Hey Kaito-niichan," Conan spoke, eyes bright with a sort of faux admiration that Kaito knew to be more suspicion than anything else. "You know Inspector Nakamori, right? Since you said you went to a Chat Noir heist with him."

"It's rude to listen to other people's conversations." Kaito muttered, kneading his head. _Stupid Hakuba and his stupid questions and his stupid timing; always ruining everything._

"Sorry nii-chan but I heard." Conan replied, not looking sorry at all, "I also came over to sit next to you because it's so loud in this restaurant I could barely hear you or myself earlier."

"Well, sorry to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but our conversation's over. I've got an errand to run this afternoon so I've got to go soon." Kaito said, laughing nervously and patting Conan on the head. "And besides, I didn't say I know Inspector Nakamori."

"Well he's the Inspector for the division that goes after thieves." Conan stated simply, "And there was only one Chat Noir heist in Japan, and he was the one in charge of it."

"Oh, so you keep up with the news? Good for you."

"Well I do live with a detective after all." Conan then rounded on him, "Say, you should come to the next KID heist! I bet with Kaito-niichan there, KID wouldn't know what hit him!"

"What?" _No way in hell! At least not with you!_ "Why? Where did that come from?"

"Well, obviously Inspector Nakamori trusted you enough to take you to a heist with both KID _and_ Chat Noir, right? And from the sound of it, you figured out Chat Noir's identity, and you got someone who you don't even get along with calling you from overseas to consult you on whether or not something is fake or real!"

"Really, I hate to disappoint you, but I'm really not that-"

"Also, you can read lips, right?"

Kaito blinked as he felt his insides go cold. _Shit._ "What?"

"Before I came to sit next to you, I could barely hear you! But because either nii-chan has very good ears, or can read lips, you didn't miss a single word I said!" Conan beamed, looking up at the teen next to him.

Kaito shook his head, willing himself to calm down. "Tantei-kun, you can't know if I did or didn't miss a single word." He continued, "And besides, how would such a skill help at a KID heist at all?" _Well, a lot, actually, but I'm not going to help you._ "I think you're enough, really. I wouldn't want to get in yours or Inspector Nakamori's way."

"Aw" Conan frowned, trying to look sad. Kaito almost flinched at the terrible acting, but held himself.

"And if, as you say, KID looks like me, then things would get more complicated if I go to the heists." Kaito continued, "He could easily pretend to be me, who, as you guessed right, knows Inspector Nakamori personally, or Kudo, who the police force as a whole seems to trust."

"That's true, but I really think you'd be a great help." Conan pressed, determined to see the guy at work. "It doesn't even have to be a KID heist. Help out on one of old man Kogoro's cases, or hang out with me when Heiji-niichan visits."

"Heiji-niichan?" Now Kaito was really confused. He knew who this Heiji was, but what was mini-Kudo getting at? Isn't he jumping to conclusions about him being KID like Hakuba did?

"Heiji Hattori, the high school detective of the West!" Conan exclaimed, "Honestly I think you'd make a great detective, or at least would be a great friend!"

Kaito blinked in horror at the suggestion of being surrounded by his mortal enemies as 'friends'. Okay, maybe not _mortal enemies_ but they were the bane of his existence. Also, from what he knew, the pipsqueak did _not_ suck up to random people just because he thought they were _smart_ and _potentially great friends_. In contrast, the boy seemed to avoid intelligent life until they figured out his identity, or he theirs, and then he used them like no tomorrow. Like the FBI. Or undercover police officers. Or-

 _OMG_. Kaito didn't know if he should laugh or cry. Was Tantei-kun suspecting him of being an undercover agent? The unidentified, international caller, the strange knowledge about international criminals, and the guarded way he spoke on the phone while speaking in half-truths…well… He was sure the thought of Kaito being KID should have crossed the boy's mind at some point, but now that he thought about his actions, it wasn't strange for Conan to suspect this other possibility too. It also didn't help that Kaito had gone out of his way to make sure no personal information about him was leaked from the hospital he stayed at yesterday, even if small children claiming to look for their 'oniichan' came sniffing around for information.

And then the meaning of the strange question about avoiding Poirot came back to him. He was testing him to see if Kaito _knew_. Testing him to see if he _knew_ something about that Bourbon character. Considering the detective had been willing to have a conversation about an attempt on his real identity's life in that café with the psycho, Kaito suddenly realized what that meant.

That Bourbon 'psycho' was an undercover agent. He was undercover in that crazy Black organization or whatever it was that Tantei-kun was after.

Unfortunately, either way, he was no friend of KID.

"I don't really want to become involved in bloody cases of the sort that Detective Mouri or Detective Hattori seem to work on a lot." Kaito replied weakly, "Sorry but I've got to decline."

"Don't be like that." Conan went on, determined to find out more about this potential ally. "Then maybe for non-bloody cases. Like KID heists."

"No, for the last time, no KID heists." Kaito replied, exasperated. "I don't mind watching them. Heck, I _love_ watching them, but I'm not getting involved like you inevitably will. KID once got his face 'seen' while pretending to be me, and I had a hard time convincing Inspector Nakamori and a friend of mine that it really _wasn't_ me." Kaito sighed, actually remembering how much of a pain it was; even if it actually was his fault. "If Shinichi Kudo really isn't KID, I'm sure he's had those moments too."

Conan blinked, actually feeling sympathetic. _Well yes, yes I have._ "That's true."

"If you want to hang out at crime scenes with me so much, maybe we can ask Inspector Nakamori if we can attend his other cases, just to observe." Kaito suggested, "We can say we're distantly related or something. We look alike enough; and besides, he knows you're smart what with the KID heists and all." _Like hell that old man would agree to take me and some grade school brat to run around on his turf._

Conan frowned, knowing that it would be very unlikely that Inspector Nakamori would agree to take them on such escapades. Unless…. He pulled some strings. This Kaito teenager had no idea how far his strings could pull. "Fine! It's a promise then." The boy smiled, and then stuck his hand out.

Kaito gaped, before shaking the small hand, a little unnerved at the simple acceptance of the obvious rejection. _Am I missing something_?

He then absentmindedly wondered how much information Tantei-kun had gained from touching his hand during that handshake. Oh what was he kidding? He had probably already looked at his hands while he was knocked out yesterday. "Anyway, I need to go."

"Me too. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today, Kaito-niichan."

Conan ran all the way to Professor Agasa's house, ready to plan out how to approach this new person of interest. _Thank god cell phones exist_. He thought, _without those incoming calls, I wouldn't have gained any information worth knowing from him._ This boy was no average civilian. Kaitou KID? Probably not, though not impossible. Undercover agent? Unlikely considering the age. Brilliant? Yes. Enemy? No.

Anyway, the boy seemed connected, intelligent, wary, and an altogether good source of information. If Conan could use him, Kaito would be a great ally.

\- ch 3. preview

 _Kaito couldn't believe his ears. "Wait… what?"_

" _I said." Inspector Nakamori snapped, glaring at the stunned boy, "Pack your bags. You're coming with me this weekend to go to Kobe on a business trip. You're to take care of your relative, Conan Edogawa, while with us. Got it?"_

" _You're kidding."_

" _No. I wish I was but I'm not. The brat wanted to go, and he requested you as a babysitter. Figured you two smart aleks were related. You two look really similar now that I think about it."_


	3. Common Hobbies

Ch. 3 Common Hobbies

Kaito couldn't believe his ears. "Wait… what?"

"I said." Inspector Nakamori snapped, glaring at the stunned boy, "Pack your bags. You're coming with me this weekend to go to Kobe on a business trip. You're to take care of your relative, Conan Edogawa, while with us. Got it?"

"You're kidding."

"No. I wish I was but I'm not. The brat wanted to go, and he requested you as a babysitter. Figured you two smart aleks were related. You two look really similar now that I think about it." Nakamori then paused and fixed Kaito with a questioning stare as he noticed how unnerved the boy looked. "He _is_ related to you, right?"

"Uh, I didn't know he was until recently." Kaito replied hastily, "So we aren't that acquainted yet." Well that was _kind of_ true anyway. They had decided that they would be related only last weekend when he had made that empty promise.

Unfortunately for Kaito, it seemed that Tantei-kun had a lot more influence within the police force than he had thought. This was terribly inconvenient, and Kaito hated how this one miscalculation had landed him with an entire weekend with the squirt. What scared Kaito more than his miscalculation, was that he couldn't figure out _why_ the brat seemed so intent on spending more time with him.

Kaito wondered if he had read the boy entirely wrong. He had thought Conan avoided even _slightly_ insightful people, and Kaito had been avoiding his traps left and right. Not only that, he'd been careful to not let Conan think that Kaito even _remotely_ considered Conan to be more than just a slightly eccentric grade schooler.

 _I'm leaving you alone, now why don't you leave me alone too?!_

000

"Someone looks excited." Haibara stated, calmly sipping on her tea as she watched Conan looking over the latest improvements the professor had made on his gear while the boy waited to be picked up for the weekend. "I wasn't aware you were so into petty crimes."

"I'm not." Conan answered, rolling his eyes. "I _am_ into solving mysteries though, and the guy I'm going to be staying with is one. If I can get him to work with us…"

"Kudo-kun, are you planning on getting an innocent boy killed?" Haibara asked coldly, "You do realize that he's already in danger by virtue of looking like you and KID, and now you're planning on getting him involved with us?"

"Well no I won't tell him about us, and besides, he doesn't seem to be all that interested in detectives or crimes for that matter. He seems to know a bit about KID and thieving, since he's personally familiar with Inspector Nakamori, but that's about it." Conan countered, "It's just that he's obviously pretty resourceful, and it's always good to have a friendly contact like that. He could be useful."

"Useful." Haibara chuckled, "Sometimes I wonder about you, Kudo-kun."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh I don't know." She said sarcastically, "I wonder about the goodness of your heart when I see you using your boyish charms to manipulate adults and children alike to do your bidding."

"You make me sound evil." Conan muttered, glaring at her, "I admit, I'm not above using my…situation… to my advantage, but I don't do it for evil."

"I know I know oh great moral detective." Haibara yawned as she finished her tea, already bored with the conversation. "I see your ride outside. Have fun terrorizing your look alike. Get pictures of his terrified face so I…we can laugh about it later."

Conan threw one last annoyed look at his friend before bidding the professor good-bye and running out to the car parked outside the gates. He was _so_ not taking those pictures. Though he guessed it wouldn't be too bad to make the teen sweat a little. Conan did have to pay him back for getting the better of him the other day.

Little did he know, Conan was already making Kaito suffer just by virtue of being nearby. Kaito wouldn't have minded spending the weekend with Tantei-kun if the thief had been undercover and was there as someone else; heck he'd done that several times before! Even encountered murders while at it, just because murders always had to happen when the little detective was around. However, this was _different_. Kaito wasn't here of his own accord, and the focus of the pipsqueak's attention was _him._ Not Kaitou KID, not a murder suspect, not _any_ suspect, just _him;_ a random _victim_ who was attacked because, ironically, he was mistaken as the squirt's real identity, who was mistaken as Kaito's alter identity. _I hate you SO_ _much right now._ He thought, as the car he was riding in with Nakamori and one of his colleagues stopped in front of the crazy professor's house. The object of his annoyance appeared immediately from the front door, and ran towards them. 

Kaito absently noted the yellow beetle parked within the gates of the property. It kind of looked like the car of Jii's friend that created Kaito's gadgets for his heists. The teen shook his head at the impossible thought. The world couldn't be filled with _that_ many ironies could it? No way.

He then unconsciously scooted over as the twerp bounded into the back seat next to him. Although there was no reason to fear the dart at the moment, Kaito wasn't about to get comfortable next to the insane bastard. The boy literally threw himself off skyscrapers to catch him off guard; and Kaito couldn't count how many times he had to throw _himself_ out of buildings and planes to get away from the boy.

He then frowned despite himself, as he had another thought. Kaito also didn't know how many times he had to throw himself off of buildings and planes to get _to_ the boy who seemed to go involuntary skydiving… a lot.

"What are you thinking about?" Conan asked, looking up at the frowning teen, suddenly sensing a moment of déjà vu at seeing him from that angle. He remembered the weird feeling of seeing himself, Shinichi Kudo, sitting next to him in a police helicopter before he was grabbed by 'himself' and flown onto a blimp to take down bio-terrorists.

"Uh… I was wondering how it's like to fly." Kaito answered lamely, looking out of the window at some random bird, "You know, like that bird."

Conan blinked, a little weirded out by the coincidence, "Oh." Then he added on, "me too."

"Well stop wondering because you boys won't be finding out anytime soon." Nakamori said from the driver's seat, "Well, I guess Conan-kun's had that unfortunate experience of being thrown out of a blimp, but Kaito-kun, you're not going to do anything that dangerous."

Kaito internally laughed, wondering how much irony he could take before he lost his grip on reality. "Well what _are_ we doing in Kobe anyway? I haven't heard yet our purpose for going."

"We're doing undercover work. Don't worry about it, we won't make you two do anything difficult." Nakamori started explaining, "I'll be there as a man on a business trip, Takano here will be a retiree in Kobe as a tourist, and you two will be siblings vacationing there for the weekend." The man didn't notice the deep sigh given by the teen sitting behind him at the roles, "We'll be separated into 3 teams that way. We are just there to gather information to help out the local police, and then we will go home."

Not satisfied with the lackadaisical explanation, Conan was about to start his little act to coax information out of the man, when the teen next to him piped up.

"What is the purpose of our information gathering?" Kaito asked, not beating around any bushes, "We might be able to help more if you let us know."

"It's… a strange… case." Takano, the colleague that was sitting shotgun spoke for the first time, "I very much was against having you boys, civilians, involved in such a shady case, but rest assured if you follow our instructions, you two will be okay."

"I mean it, Kaito-kun. I know you're smart, but we could potentially be dealing with dangerous criminals here, and plus, you will have a child in your care, so _please_ , follow our instructions to a tee." Nakamori added on for good measure.

"I won't let Tantei-kun here die." Kaito promised, getting a bad feeling about the case already. "What are we investigating a cult or something?"

"No, we're not really sure what it is." Takano continued, "Apparently there has been a strange woman approaching lone people from out town at tourist locations, and asking for help in finding a lost item. When suggested to go to the police, she apparently refuses and then disappears. Even if some good Samaritan tries to go along to help her find it, she leave them if they don't find her item by sunset."

"…what?" Conan piped up, "That's… strange."

"Yes, so we're not really sure if her motive is really to find some lost item, or if it's to lure someone somewhere, or if it's all just a bad joke." Nakamori added, wrinkling his nose. "Either way, the item she is looking for is apparently a vase that was stolen from a local museum a month ago. However, from descriptions of her appearance from sighting reports, no one at the museum knows of such a woman."

"So the police think this lady is somehow connected to the theft, and that's why she won't go to the police for help in finding the item?" Kaito asked, "And that's why she only asks non-locals because they'll be less likely to know about the theft?"

"Yes." Nakamori answered, "That's where we come in. We stand around as decoys, hopefully she asks one of us for help, and we discreetly record her voice, her face, and her actions."

"Yes, it's okay to refuse her help if you guys want to. It will be enough if you capture video of the woman." Takano added on, "easy, right?"

The two men sitting up front jumped as they heard laughter coming from the two boys behind them. "Yes, easy." Conan said cryptically _._ Although, he was a little surprised to see that the boy next to him had laughed as well.

"Ah… yes, I bet it will be." Kaito agreed, knowing all too well that neither of them would stop at just talking to the mystery woman and refusing to help.

 _They_ would seek _her_ out if she didn't show her face to them.

The four arrived at the train station, where Kaito was given a file with instructions and additional information about the case, and then they all went their separate ways. Nakamori, Takano, and Kaito (with Conan in tow), each boarded the bullet train to Kobe, though taking care to take ones leaving at different times so as to arrive separately.

Once the two sat down in the train, Kaito leaned down to whisper to Conan, "So." He said, "We're brothers, so I'm taking your last name."

Conan frowned, before whispering back in confusion at the setting, "why?"

"Since you could be recognized being the famed KID killer and all, it would be easier for us to be found out if you lied about your name. So I will be Kaito Edogawa."

"Oh, I see." Conan replied, marveling at the irony.

"Yup, I guess I'm kind of like the younger brother in that sense." Kaito said, "The me now came after you."

Another sense of déjà vu hit him as Conan remembered his encounter with the former Kaitou KID in his school library 10 years ago. _"I'm your younger brother."_

"My dad-" Conan caught himself, "I mean, Shinichi-niichan said the older Kaitou KID claimed to be his younger brother too, because niichan's dad gave the thief his namesake."

"Oh so we're…" Kaito wasn't sure if he could continue talking, as a lump suddenly found its way into his throat as he felt…grief at this unknown memory of his own father. _Does god seriously hate me?_ "So in a way, we're kind of like your Shinichi-niichan and KID." He said softly.

"I guess so?" Conan replied, not getting the odd look the other boy was giving him, but decided to drop the topic as soon as possible. Metaphor or not, he didn't like that the other teen was hitting too close to home on his identity. "So, what's in that file the Inspe-, I mean, ojisan gave you?"

Kaito snapped out of his rare moment of sincerity as he remembered the file Nakamori had given him. "Give me a few to look them over. Then you can see them."

"Oh, okay." Conan said, surprised at the suggestion. He assumed the teen would refuse, or try to tell him the run down version of the instructions after reading them, because Conan was a kid. Kaito obviously wasn't used to handling children Conan's age though, so that was probably why the teen hadn't done those things Conan feared. The detective wasn't complaining though. If a teen ignorant of how small children were supposed to behave worked in his advantage, it was all the better.

While he waited for the teen to finish reading over the files, Conan looked up recent news of theft at museums in the Kobe area. He found a picture of what the vase in question looked like. "120 cm high, 60 cm wide…" Conan muttered as he read the description.

"About this high and this wide?" Conan heard a voice say, as Kaito, sitting across from him, brandished his hands to indicate the size of the measurements.

"Huh?"

"The vase." Kaito replied, looking at him quizzically. "It's about this high" he moved his hand to indicate a height, "and this wide" he then moved both his hands to indicate a width "by the way, I've finished reading this file. Here you go."

Conan scrambled for the file as the other teen haphazardly tossed it to him. Managing to grab it, the little boy gave Kaito an annoyed look before quirking his eyebrows in confusion, "That was quick."

"I'm a quick reader." Kaito replied, yawning, and then whipping out a tablet, "Plus, there's not enough information in there."

"I see." Conan said, pinching his own cheek before diving into the file. Today had been one déjà vu after another, making him doubt his sanity for a moment. Perhaps hanging out with a doppelganger really wasn't that great for his mental health.

Kaito looked up the information on the museum, as well as more info on the stolen vase and the circumstances surrounding the theft. He smirked as he noticed that this was a museum familiar to him. He had considered stealing from there once, but had decided against doing the heist when he got wind that the jewel that he had been planning on targeting was a replica. That didn't mean he hadn't done his research on the ins and outs of the museum (literally all the ins and outs) so Kaito had a pretty good idea how the thief had taken the large vase, given the information in the papers about the scene of the crime were true.

 _No. ThieveS._ He corrected himself. _This theft-_

"This theft was a crime committed by at least two people."

Kaito almost jumped out of his skin as he heard the boy in front of him quite literally finish his thoughts out loud.

"You're talking about the museum theft?"

"Yes." Conan replied matter of factly, "This theft was probably the trigger for this strange occurrence."

"Why do you think it was at least two people?"

"The actions of the strange woman as indicated in the case file." Conan stated, making Kaito blink. _Interesting, he starts from the end._

"Obviously the woman is trying to find the vase, or at least get someone to become curious enough to look for the vase. However, she cannot show that she is directly going to the police for some reason. That means she is either being watched by someone who is threatening her not to go to the police, or she wants the vase to be found as soon as possible, but she doesn't want to personally be there when it is, considering her frequent disappearing acts."

"Wow." Kaito said, impressed, "You try to deduce facts by reading people's hearts." He said, "Impressive."

Conan jolted, a little nervous that he had gone and done full out deducing in front of a guy who only saw him as a child. "Wha- what do you think oniichan?"

"I think it's at least two people as well." he replied, wondering how much he could tell the boy his reasoning lest he became suspicious about the amount of knowledge the teen had about the museum layout. "But I started with the facts from the museum theft, which led to our lady's current actions of desperation."

Kaito then explained in very little detail about how the theft had to have been done, and how the circumstances written in the articles about it point this out to be a multi-person crime. "Specifically two people." Kaito said, "And the other one is most likely a man, relatively short and thin."

"You're right," Conan muttered, as he looked over the articles Kaito had handed over to him, "impressive."

"No, I had no idea what the lady's current actions meant, so your input is most valuable." Kaito said, sincere in his praise for once. "I thought detectives were colder. You know, all hard facts and science and whatever. It's ironic that it seems you started with the matters of the heart."

"Feelings come from somewhere, and they always originate from some sort of necessity or action, which lead us to hard facts." Conan said, raising an eyebrow at the strange teen. "You say 'detectives' like you aren't familiar with them; yet you aren't so shabby yourself. You just start from a different perspective."

"Yes, I'm usually used to creating, while you are probably more used to picking apart." Kaito said, shrugging, "Either way, here we are ripping into people's secrets like burglars."

"Hey, we're trying to find out the truth here! You make it sound like it's a bad thing." Conan frowned, feeling a little affronted, "And besides, what do you mean you're usually used to 'creating'?"

"I'm a playful guy." Kaito shrugged again, "I like playing pranks on people, and entertaining them with mysteries. However, ironically, being a creator of mysteries makes one a realist."

"I love mysteries." Conan smirked, "Though I am more the type that likes figuring them out. You must dislike my type."

"Not so much." Kaito smiled, "I find that your type, the critic that tries to pick apart everything, becomes the best type of audience once I manage to impress them."

"Audience?"

"Figure of speech." Kaito laughed, "Now let's work on this real criminal mystery on our hands." He then frowned, "Things may actually be looking bad for our lady's partner here."

"You're right." Conan said darkly, "We need to go check out that vase as soon as we get to Kobe."

"You know where the vase is?" Kaito asked, surprised the boy had figured out that much. At least Kaito had already known the area. For all he knew, Conan did not.

"No, but I know there are certain characteristics the place the vase is has to fulfill. Once we get there and ask around, we can find that place."

"In that case, let me know those characteristics. I know the area so I've narrowed down a few places as candidates already, but your deductions may help me narrow it down to one."

With Conan's deductions and Kaito's knowledge, the two managed to narrow down the place of both the vase, and the possible location of the woman in question. Kaito called Inspector Nakamori and the other officer, Takano, since the two had gone ahead of them. "Hopefully, this case will be over before we even get there."

Conan looked at him, seeming a little disappointed. "What, we won't go there ourselves?"

Kaito scowled down at the child, not understanding the sentiment. "Tantei-kun, there may be a rotting body in that vase. Do you understand how bad those smell?"

Conan was about to open his mouth to retort, before Kaito stopped him. "Wait, don't answer that question. And before you ask me how _I_ know what a rotting body smells like, _I don't_ and I don't ever want to know."

As Kaito had hoped, and to Conan's disappointment, everything was said and done by the time the boys had arrived in Kobe. This case really _was_ easy for the two of them. Or at least, it was easy because both of them worked on it together. The two would not have been able to figure out the case well before arriving in the town without one another and they knew it.

This further increased Conan's desire to get the resourceful Kaito to become a buddy he could call upon in a time of need. It had also been easy to work together in part because Kaito was not a detective, and didn't pit any sort of strange rivalry against Conan when trying to figure out things. For the teen, thinking about the case was not a battle; it was figuring out what was behind the scenes.

However, despite Conan seeming to decide to like the teen, Kaito still was not up to reciprocating the feeling. He figured this was fitting, in a way. Conan was still the detective doing the chasing, and Kaito, although Conan didn't know this, was the thief that was evading.

As the boys stepped off the bullet train, they were met by Takano, who let them know that Nakamori was already tying up loose ends about the case with the local police.

"So…" Kaito said awkwardly, already knowing that they had gone above and beyond what they had been requested to do as the business trip tag-alongs, "Can we go home now?"

"Already? Why not go check in at the hotel you were supposed to stay at tonight? I'm sure Nakamori will want to talk to you after this fiasco anyway. Plus, it's a pretty long ride from here to Tokyo, so going right back today would be a pain. Besides, even if _you_ will be fine, the little boy with you might not be. " Takano suggested, looking down at said little boy that was peering back up at him. "But anyway, good job you kids. Really impressive."

"Hey uh, no problem. We just had a lucky streak; is all." Kaito waved away the praise, before looking down at Conan and sighing. "Come on, let's get going then." He then grabbed their luggage before motioning the boy to follow him to catch a nearby taxi from the station.

"Wait, oniichan!" Conan ran after his chaperone, who seemed way to eager to get away from the station, "Do you think we'll be staying the entire weekend like planned, or will we be going back first thing tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I'll have to ask Inspector Nakamori what the plans are. We still are staying here on official funds after all, so if there is extra work we are to help with, we can. If there isn't, then we can go back."

The two arrived at the appointed hotel after a short, 10 minute drive from the station. Since Kobe was a port city, the hotel had a beautiful, ocean view, despite it not being super fancy. Not impressed with the ocean, however, Kaito plopped himself down on the bed farther away from the window as soon as the two arrived in their room.

"For being athletic, you sure don't have much stamina." Conan quipped, looking over at the teen that had thrown himself face down on the bed and now lay motionless. "Were you out late last night?"

"I'm not even going to ask why you think I'm athletic." Kaito muttered, even though he could probably guess why. _It's my hands isn't it. Damn detectives love the 'looking at hands to figure out things about people' thing._

"It's your hands."

"Ugghhh…" Kaito groaned. "No I wasn't out late last night. It's mental fatigue. _Stress_. Does a little child like you understand what _stress_ is?"

Conan glared, and then grinned, satisfied. "No." He'd had his fun for the day, and it was still 3 in the afternoon! "Hey Kaito-niichan, after we talk with Nakamori ojisan, let's go sightseeing!"

"I'll think about it." Kaito muttered. Kobe was famous for having good western sweets after all. Maybe he could get some chocolate cake. Or ice cream. That sounded good. _What did Tantei-kun like?_ He wondered. Lemon…pie. Or something.

He'll try to be nice.

\- ch 4. preview

" _No…" Kaito gasped, slapping his forehead with his hand. Had Tantei-kun's bad luck won out this day? "Oh NO!" Because there, between the salt-scented boulders at the beach, lay what looked, and smelled, suspiciously like a dead human body. Despite what he had told Tantei-kun earlier, Kaito knew what a dead body smelled like, and this was it._

" _Kaito-niichan wha-" speaking of the devil, Tantei-kun himself waltzed over at the sound of Kaito's exasperated yell and froze as he saw what the teen had found. "Oh no is right."_


	4. Different Hobbies

Ch 4. Different Hobbies

"No…" Kaito gasped, slapping his forehead with his hand. Had Tantei-kun's bad luck won out this day? "Oh _NO_!" Because there, between the salt-scented boulders at the beach, lay what looked, and smelled, suspiciously like a dead human body. Despite what he had told Tantei-kun earlier, Kaito knew what a dead body smelled like, and this was it.

"Kaito-niichan wha-" speaking of the devil, Tantei-kun himself, waltzed over at the sound of Kaito's exasperated yell and froze as he saw what the teen had found. "Oh no is right."

Kaito covered his nose with the handkerchief before he slid his gaze over to his companion. _Ah._ He thought dryly. _Tantei-kun in his_ _element_. He observed the way the boy surveyed the scene expertly, while Kaito took out his phone to notify the police.

"Looks like an accident." Conan muttered, shuffling about the corpse's shoes. He then flitted around the scene, taking in more clues while being careful not to disturb the evidence. "The position of the body, the scuff marks on the shoes, the surrounding area…"

Kaito wondered if the shrunken detective noticed that he had a habit of thinking out loud. It was no wonder several people around him already seemed to know his real identity, despite the impossible predicament the detective had landed himself in. Unlike Kaito, mini-Kudo literally couldn't act to save his life. The only reason the detective probably managed to keep his identity a secret from most was because his situation was beyond crazy. _Meanwhile, I have all the reasons to be suspected and I still have no one onto me._ He thought, a little proud of himself, before Akako and Hakuba's faces flashed in his thoughts for a moment. _NO ONE._

He shook his head to rid himself of the unpleasant feeling remembering his two classmates gave him, before focusing on the situation in front of him. Even if little Kudo couldn't act, he could figure out causes of deaths like no tomorrow. "When do you think this person died?" he asked, choosing not to comment on Conan acting strange for his 'age'. He was genuinely curious as to whether or not the boy could figure this out after all.

"I don't know. I would guess around 2 days, but I can't be sure until the forensics team takes a look at him." Conan informed him without hesitation. The boy then carefully picked the man's pockets, looking for a source of identification.

Kaito eyed the amateur, ahem, _normal_ way Conan was going through those pockets and again affirmed that they, indeed, were very different people.

Conan frowned as he came up short after his short search. Anything more aggressive would disturb the evidence, but once the police came, the case would undoubtedly be taken out of his hands. He briefly wondered if he should call Hattori, who should only be about an hour away given they were in Kobe, to see if he could somehow get himself involved in the investigation and be able to see it through to the end.

"Forensics?" Kaito mused, disrupting Conan out of his thoughts. "As expected, you know a lot of big words."

"It's because I live with a detective! Ha ha!" Conan exclaimed, laughing nervously. Now that he thought about it, this was an accident. There was no need to be involving himself further with this case, or involving Hattori with his big mouth, to tip off Kaito that Conan wasn't who he said he was. _Speaking of Hattori, I'm lucky that unlike him, Kaito doesn't seem to be at all suspicious of me. Of course, he never knew the actual me, so I guess he doesn't have anyone to pin me as…_ That was another reason why Conan was so comfortable in pursuing the intelligent teen's company. The teen didn't seem to have any interest in prying about Conan's intelligence.

He blinked as that last thought struck him as weird. _Actually… why doesn't he?_

Conan cursed his terrible intuition. If he had a bad feeling about this thought, it would have helped him figure this out, but he didn't feel anything about it. He was good at logic and figuring out mysteries, but things like intuition…it seemed everyone else and their mother had it better than he did. And so, Conan dismissed his fleeting moment of doubt. Without any actual evidence that indicated he had to worry about this lack of interest, Conan couldn't bring himself to care much.

Unlike the detective, Kaito literally survived on not only his wits but his good intuition and luck, so when Conan was having that almost-critical thought, the teen had felt his eyes drawn to the other boy's face. He carefully observed the emotions that played out on them. Seeing the face go from confused, to concerned, to dismissive, Kaito felt himself relax for a moment, as he _felt_ , for some odd reason, like he had missed getting hit by a metaphorical car. He then idly wondered if he should question the boy's uncanny intelligence more, just to get him to back off from being so _aggressive_ with befriending Kaito. Perhaps that had been his mistake. Being passive in the face of aggression.

After the police arrived at the scene, and the two finished being questioned, they finally managed to relax at a nearby restaurant. Conan, relaxed, because he had managed to weasel out enough information from the police to deduce that it really was, in fact, an accident, and not some overly complicated murder, and Kaito relaxed, because he didn't like being questioned by the police and so he was glad it was over.

"So." Kaito spoke, nibbling at his food as he looked across at his companion. "What's your purpose in trying to hang out with me so much?" Thankfully, with what seemed like a mix of his luck and the detective's, they had encountered a dead body but it was an accident, not a murder. However, he wasn't what the next event they would encounter held in store for them. Although Kaito did not have a knack for running into murders, he did have a knack for running into mysteries and twisted situations. "I'm 10 years older than you, I'm not interested in crimes, I'm not well connected, and I'm altogether an average teenager that just so happens to know one inspector, and just so happens to look like a couple of famous people." He sighed, "Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't like you, it's just that your actions are confusing to me."

Conan, meanwhile, chewed on his food to give himself time to carefully construct his answer, before responding the same way he did before. "Kaito-niichan. I just want to be friends with you. Is that really so strange?"

" _Yes_." Kaito sighed, wondering why life always seemed to drive him into corners. "For the exact reasons I mentioned just now."

"I didn't know you were the same age as Shinichi-niichan though." Conan replied, continuing to eat his food as if his friendship courting attempts were not just rejected, "I'm starting to think you really _are_ him in disguise!"

"I never said how old I-" _ugh_. Kaito slapped himself in the face. Right. He was dealing with a detective. "You _are_ 7, right?"

"Yup."

"And it's not me, it's _you_ that's him, remember?" Kaito said, referencing the comment he had made earlier that day on the train. He enjoyed the flash of horror ghost over Conan's face as he clearly misunderstood the reference for a second.

"R…right." The boy laughed, shrinking back. "What a pair we would make."

 _You have no idea._ "Yes." Kaito laughed right back, "What a pair."

As they finished up eating their meal, Kaito started to seriously wonder if he should just give up and allow this farce of a 'friendship' to happen with this equally fake person. The pipsqueak wasn't giving up, and Kaito was starting to realize that as a civilian with a name and a face and a home, he was going to have a hard time escaping the clutches of the boy's attention. _'Don't run away from the audience before the show even begins.'_ Kaito remembered his father's words as he inwardly sighed. _'Remember, magic is not a battle. It is entertainment._ '

Kaito sat up as he decided on taking up the challenge. Once he accepted the thought, the sort of familiar joy that filled him before his fanciest heists came to him. If Meitantei wanted to mess with him, Kaitou KID, he wasn't going down without a fight. Actually, he wasn't going down at _all._ Because… right… he had to see their twisted relationship as not a fight, but a show. He'll entertain him alright. _And I reserve my best miracles for my best audience member._

"Hey Meitantei." Kaito started, mind buzzing with potential ideas. "I'm not your Shinichi-niichan, but I accept your friendship proposal." He then gave the boy a genuine grin; the kind that made the stoic Hakuba instinctively inch towards the nearest exit. "I take back my past refusal to go to more cases with you. Let's go to the next KID heist together."

"Really?" Conan piped up, almost dropping his fork in surprise. "I wonder when that would be?"

"Our choice." Kaito replied, laughing maniacally inside as he saw the boy take the bait. "We write a fake heist note, and he'll show up. For being so good at faking others, it seems like KID hates fakes of himself."

Conan gaped, and then frowned as he hesitated at the suggestion. "We should let Inspector Nakamori know, at least?"

The teen paused. _Right. This guy was usually on the side of the police._ "OH… right." Kato sighed dramatically, "I forgot about him. He would _kill_ me if I did something like that for fun."

The mini detective looked at him for a moment, before he seemed to get an idea. "We can say it's a trap. I have some… connections that could help us create a plan with the police."

Kaito smiled. The detective's consistent desire to catch the thief was making it very easy to use him. "Great. In that case, we should start writing the note. Then we will create an elaborate plan to catch him once and for all."

"Right." Conan nodded excitedly. _It'll be fun to corner KID with Kaito, but more importantly, maybe then we can lure out-_

"But then again, if we're lucky, we can lure out those bad guys wanting to kill KID and or Kudo." Kaito added on, grinning at the surprised look the other boy gave him. _Ah ha! Don't think you can finish my thoughts and not have that done back to you!_

"I thought you said those bad people were insane conspiracy theorists that we don't need to take seriously." Conan frowned, not willing to get his new friend potentially involved in the deadly side of his life. "We should focus on catching KID."

"Hey, better safe than sorry." He shrugged, "They could come after me again, and they could come after you too, if they find out you're related to that Meitantei."

Conan blushed a little, flattered by the offhand praise his real persona got. "You think Shinichi-niichan is a Meitantei?"

"Yes. I'm sure he is, if he has your respect." Kaito replied, looking at him quizzically, "And besides, knowing that I have a similar face to him and knowing he has people after his life makes me kind of want to root for him."

"Ah." Conan paused. He really wished he didn't have to lie about his identity. Now he kind of wanted to actually become friends with this guy. 

"Although now that I think of it, I guess KID would be in the same boat, if we really do look alike." Kaito said, tapping his chin, "Not only that, I'm a magician as well."

"You're... a _what_?"

"A magician." Kaito repeated, producing a mini baton in one hand and a mini top hat in his other hand. "As I said before on the train, I like creating mysteries for my audience." He placed the top hat on the surprised detective's head. "Nakamori finds me useful when planning against KID, since he's also a magician."

"Oh." The little boy mouthed, many things suddenly clicking in place for him. The cleverness, the dexterity, the attentiveness to detail, the ability to read people, the dislike of detectives, the involvement at the KID and Chat Noir heist, the different perspective on things, the occasional un-Nakamori-like insight in KID cases…"No wonder."

"Yes." He said, "So going back to my earlier statement again, we really are like Kudo and KID. A detective and a magician. A younger older brother and an older younger brother."

"Huh." Conan responded. "How ironic."

"How ironic indeed." Kaito wondered if his father was turning over in his grave just about now.

000

The next morning found Kaito and Conan huddled between a building and some cargo as they hid from their pursuers. Despite finally (mutually) becoming friends yesterday, Kaito had to wonder if keeping company with the detective, even as a normal civilian, was a good idea. Right after the two had finished their breakfast, they had gone out for a morning walk in lieu of sightseeing before their appointment with the Inspector and his colleague at 2 in the afternoon. While on their walk, Conan's sharp eyes had caught a strange man slipping into an alleyway, and the boy had run off to see what was going on.

Of course, Kaito, being the chaperone, ran after him, and of _course_ , they had run into a meeting of what looked like freaking _cult members._

Kaito didn't know if he should blame himself for having made that offhand joke way back when in the car on the way to the train station in Tokyo, or if he should blame Tantei-kun for having such a knack for being attracted to dangerous crimes.

Hopefully, like with the dead body they found yesterday, fate would have mellowed out the situation due to Kaito's presence.

"So." Kaito whispered, not looking at the boy in his arms. "What now."

"I don't know. We're completely surrounded." Conan muttered while furrowing his brows in desperation. It was clear he was trying to think of a way to get them out of this situation safely. "I've grabbed the evidence I need to incriminate the two people we found earlier, but I don't know where their headquarters are."

"Tell me what information you need to know, and I can help you get it." Kaito whispered, ignoring the surprised look the boy gave him. The magician rolled his eyes in response. "I'm good at only showing what I want people to see. I can get your information, and I can get us out of here safely. Just I don't know _what_ you need to know."

"Ok." Conan replied, hoping he could trust this teen. Clever or not, these were real dangerous criminals, so he hoped the reality of the danger wouldn't give his friend cold feet when it came to it. "I need to know-"

Kaito nodded as he listened to the detective's instructions, initially surprised at how little information the boy asked for. "Wait here." He whispered, before leaving the detective sitting, hidden. "and swear to god _don't move._ I'll be back in 7 minutes."

Conan nodded, glancing at his watch. Kaito idly wondered if he was looking at the seconds too, like the other detective he knew would have.

The little detective idly measured the size of the cargo with his eyes, as he tried to deduce what was in it while waiting for his friend to come back. The task he had requested of him should have been difficult, but he had requested a pretty specific amount of time, which indicated the other boy had a plan. Just in case Kaito went over the promised 7 minutes though, Conan was thinking up of plans B, C, and D. He looked down at the newly improved watch the professor had given him to check the time, and then he turned on his tracking glasses to see where Kaito was relative to his location. Conan felt bad for sticking a tracking device on the other boy, but he figured this was for the best in this situation.

The detective blinked, though, as he noticed the dot in his glasses moving back, closer to his location. He glanced down at his watch again. _6 minutes, 37 seconds…wow does he really intend to be exactly 7 minutes? He didn't strike me as the type to be prompt to the second, but I guess timing is important for a magician._ Conan then frowned as he remembered a detective that precise to the second as well. _Maybe he might even get along with Hakuba in that aspect_.

"I'm back!" Conan jumped, as he looked up and saw Kaito's mischievous face for a split second, before he was bodily grabbed out of his hiding place and launched into the air. Or at least, that's what he thought. However, he realized Kaito, who had somehow pulled them up the side of a nearby building, was still holding him. Conan stared openmouthed at the other boy as he realized what had happened. "Is that a _grappling hook_?"

Kaito blinked innocently at him as the tool disappeared back into who knows where. "Yes?"

"Why?"

"I do acrobatic stunts too! You saw my hands." Kaito stated, using what Conan knew about him against him, "And I've got a question for you too. What's this?" he held up the transmitter that the little boy had stuck on him.

"Um, I'm a detective?"

"A little extreme for a kid like you, don't you think?"

"Same goes for you! Scaling buildings? Seriously?"

"I go above and beyond."

"Me too."

They looked at each other for a split second, before they remembered they were still in the middle of taking down a local cult. "Hey, Tantei-kun, can that watch of yours tell time?"

"Yes of course." Conan frowned, _speaking of extreme, it can do more than tell time_ , "it's 11:32."

"Huh, and it takes about 40 minutes to get to our appointed place to meet with Nakamori." Kaito pondered. "It'll be hard to take down that cult in the amount of time we have left…"

"We don't have to be exactly on time." Conan suggested, "I'm sure we can take about 10 to 20 minutes of liberty."

"No." Kaito frowned, "I'm never late for an appointment with Inspector Nakamori. I would have thought you would be more of a stickler for time, being a detective and all."

 _Yup, definitely would get along with Hakuba._ Conan thought, laughing hollowly. "All right, all right. Then I've got an idea to take them out quickly."

000

"Hey! Catch that little thief! He took my wallet!" Kaito screamed, pointing towards Conan, who, pretending to be a pickpocket, ran away quickly. There were quite a few people in the street, and some of them started running after Conan with Kaito in tow. Conan, however, whipped out his solar powered skateboard, which moved quickly enough to outpace his pursuers, but slowly enough to keep the boy in their sight.

"Ah! Officer! Please, that boy is a pickpocket!" Kaito yelled, grabbing an officer on his rounds by the arm to get him to join in the chase. "He's got my wallet!"

Conan looked over and nodded as he locked eyes for a split second with the partner in this little act, and then changed directions to get to the cult headquarters. Conan knew that they should be holding an emergency meeting there just about now, concerning the escaped boys from this morning. (The escaped boys, of course, being Kaito and Conan.)

As Conan rounded a corner, Kaito, who had slipped out from the crowd chasing the boy, grabbed him from above, and the two escaped to the top of the building where they could observe the fiasco below. There was only one door on the ground level where Conan had 'disappeared', and that was the door behind which the cult headquarters were, where a meeting was being assembled at the moment. The two boys watched as the police officer and the crowd opened the door looking for the elusive pickpocket, only to find something completely different.

Satisfied from hearing the yells of surprise and the eventual police sirens, the two left the scene to get to their appointment in time.

"Don't tell Nakamori we did this." Kaito said, looking down at the small boy next to him, who gave him a weird look.

"Of course not. He'd kill us."

"And don't tell Nakamori about my… extreme tools." Kaito added on, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I won't tell him about yours."

"Deal."

"Deal."

000

"So what have you two been up to since yesterday?" Nakamori asked, as he looked over to the two kids that joined him, "I heard from the local police that you two unfortunately encountered a body last night, but I hope this morning has treated you well."

"Yes!" Conan piped up, doing his usual sugary act. "We went to the ocean, we ate some good food, and breakfast was delicious! Kobe really does have great bread and great coffee!"

"We went sight seeing around the local streets too." Kaito added on, "It's been good to relax."

"Glad you two seem to be getting along." Nakamori said, sounding satisfied, "I wondered if you two would, honestly, with Kaito-kun's attitude in the beginning."

"Hey! I get a little shy sometimes too."

Nakamori laughed at the ridiculous statement. "Sure."

"Anyway, was there anything else we could help you with?" Conan asked in his high-pitched kiddy voice, "I had a lot of fun yesterday!"

"No you two are free to do as you please for the rest of today." Takano said, smiling at the boys. "We'll be leaving for Tokyo this evening, as planned, so just don't be late for that."

"Ok!" Conan replied, bouncing in his seat. "Say, Kaito-niichan, can we go to Osaka?"

"Osaka?" Kaito frowned, wondering what was in Osaka. "That's a bit out of the way. Why?"

"I want to visit Heiji-niichan."

"Depends…is he expecting you?"

"No."

"Do you actually want to see him?"

"Yes. But if you don't want to, he doesn't have to see us."

"…" Kaito stared at the little detective, wondering what that meant, before the invitation to play clicked, "oh."

"I want to see behind the scenes when a mystery is being created." Conan said, looking at Kaito expectantly. _Huh, so Tantei-kun_ can _be a bit of fun. Well, if I'm going to work with you to take down bad guys, then why not see how you work with me in terrorizing detectives._

"Sure, but we gotta leave like, right now." The teen said, standing up eagerly as he nodded to the other two adults, who looked slightly bewildered and confused at the strange conversation that had happened in front of them. "Thanks for the update, Takano-san, Nakamori-san. We'll see you in Tokyo. Take care."

"Take care!" Conan waved cheerfully, before running out of the restaurant after the other teen.

\- ch 5. preview

 _Heiji knew he shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning when he realized he had forgotten to charge his cell phone the night before, and had also forgotten where he had put his favorite hat. It was bad luck, he knew it, and it was a Sunday so it should have been okay to stay safely inside, but his mother had booted him out of the house, claiming it was unhealthy for a young boy like him to stay cooped up inside._

 _Heiji wandered around, wondering what he should do since Kazuha was busy, when he received a message on his phone. "Kudo? how rare. Wonder what's up with him today."_


	5. Establishing Doubt

Ch 5. Establishing doubt

Heiji knew he shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning when he realized he had forgotten to charge his cell phone the night before, and had also forgotten where he had put his favorite hat. It was bad luck, he knew it, and it was a Sunday so it should have been okay to stay safely inside, but his mother had booted him out of the house, claiming it was unhealthy for a young boy like him to stay cooped up inside.

Heiji wandered around, wondering what he should do since Kazuha was busy, when he received a message on his phone. "Kudo? how rare. Wonder what's up with him today."

000

Katio wasn't too keen on personally meeting the Detective of the West just yet.

Despite how sharp and calculating mini Kudo could be, depending on the circumstances under which they met, Kaito knew the little boy was easier to keep hoodwinked than Hattori. Conan was too smart and logical for his own good; especially when unknowingly dealing with someone as illogical and twisted as KID. When dealing with things outside of murder mysteries, twisted criminals, and crazy thief heists, Kaito saw that Conan was pretty true to Occam's razor in everyday life; it being the logical principal that the simplest explanation for things is usually the correct one.

He couldn't blame him, since Kaito would think that way too if he believed he was with a civilian who had no reason to be plotting against him.

However, even from what little Kaito had seen and heard of Heiji Hattori, he could tell this detective was a different story. If Hakuba and Kudo were cool, collected, and logical to a fault, Hattori factored as much weight in his own feelings and instincts to situations as he did to logic and evidence.

Therefore, there was a distinct possibility that this Hattori character would not hesitate to make the huge leap of faith to jump to the improbable, yet correct and insane conclusion that the Kaito Kuroba nonchalantly hanging out with _the_ Shinichi Kudo is not merely a look alike of Kaitou KID, but _is_ Kaitou KID.

Once the suspicion locked on, Kaito was not sure he would be able to escape getting cornered by Hattori. _Well, at least it will be hard for now_. He added on to his thoughts, as if to reassure himself. _Once I get mini Kudo to put me 100% out of the potential KID identity candidates, I can work on Hattori._

Either way, Kaito needed more time and a different setting to "meet" Hattori. _Or hopefully, never._

That was why this time, Kaito was keen on making sure that the Osaka detective did not figure out that the pranks carried out by the two would be able to be pinned on either Conan or him. If Hattori figured out it were Conan behind the pranks, he would inevitably find out about the business trip Conan had gone on during the weekend, and along with it, his companion, Kaito Kuroba.

With that necessity in mind, Kaito plotted. "So." He started, deciding to start out playing dumb. Hey, the boy could wish for even a split second that the shrunken teen in front of him were a sane and even remotely normal human being, and not have meant he wanted to mess with Hattori at all. Maybe he actually meant he just wanted to talk to him, and Kaito could wait somewhere else and pretend to not exist while waiting for Conan to finish chatting. "Care to clarify what you meant by 'want to see him but don't need to meet him'?"

"I figured you had realized what I meant, considering how you reacted." Conan replied promptly, not even pretending to do the kiddy act anymore. Apparently, the boy had figured he wasn't going to keep up the ruse of functioning like a normal child. Kaito and Conan _did_ just have those adventures of cleaning up a cult, an accidental death, and a theft/murder case.

Kaito rolled his eyes, while swatting away the brief shot of expected disappointment as he got the response he feared, "I don't know this Heiji-niichan of yours very well. You have to tell me his quirks and personality traits for this to work out. We can't have him figuring us out after all."

"Right." Conan said, a grin making its way on his face. "First of all, he's very smart, so we'll have to forget about trying to prevent him from figuring out he's getting pranked. We just need to make sure he doesn't know _who_."

"Well, then I guess we should just be upfront about the harmless nature about it. We don't want him getting scared." Kaito frowned, then quirked his eyebrows as he pretended he realized something, "By the way, who is this Heiji-niichan anyway? A good friend of yours?"

"Heiji Hattori, high school detective." Conan responded, giving him a challenging look. "Sorry, he's a 'critic'." The boy added on before chuckling.

Kaito's mind went blank as he momentarily panicked at hearing the last phrase. _Shit shit shit have I referred to detectives as 'critics' as Kaito to him before? Yes? I think so? Yes, yes I did! I can agree with this statement!_ Kaito then narrowed his eyes a little before pretending to pout at the information. "Hmph. Figures birds of a feather flock together."

"Well you did say our type becomes the best kind of audience once impressed." Conan countered cheekily, "This is good rehearsal, don't you think?"

"Well no, because the ones we will be entertaining today will be ourselves." Kaito replied, not taking the provocation, "It will be the critic turned entertainer. Speaking of which, you have to help execute the deeds with me."

"Of course." Conan replied, smiling, "How can I help?"

"Well first, you've got to figure out where he is." Kaito explained, "I need your help on that. I can't locate random people I don't know in a large city like Osaka."

"Sure thing." Conan said, before taking out his phone, and then sending the other detective what appeared to be a blank message, before pocketing the phone and waiting for a few moments.

Kaito noted with interest this strange action before he heard a phone buzzing from his companion's general direction. He then saw the boy take out a phone from the same pocket. It was identical looking as the one that went in, but Kaito's sharp eyes didn't miss the minute details that indicated that this one was, in fact, a different phone than the one Conan had sent the message with. Kaito wasn't going to 'notice' this strange act though. It could only have been noticeable if he had been looking for the differences, and that in itself would be too suspicious.

"What?" Conan answered the phone. Kaito noted it was much in the same way he had answered Hakuba's call that other day in the restaurant. Albeit the boy in front of him sounded a little less grumpy, "I'm having a bad day today so make it quick."

" _Hey what's with the attitude? You're the one that sent the empty message on your other phone!"_

"What do you mean?"

"… _ah so that's it! You've lost your other phone and that's why you're grumpy isn't it? Well at least it's your twerpy self's phone, and not the one you're using right now. Could have put you in a bit of a whoozy if you know what I mean."_

"…yes and yes." Conan replied, sounding every bit as irritated as his words suggested. "Plus, I'm busy and can't even make it to the bookstore today. There was an event happening at the Maruzen bookstore by Tokyo Station today but I'll probably miss it."

" _Well I'm off to the Kinokuniya bookstore by Umeda Station right now. Did you need me to pick up something for you?"_

"Thanks for the offer, but you don't need to." Conan paused, "What are you getting at the bookstore by the way? Was there a new book coming out?"

" _Nah, I'm bored today. I forgot to charge my cell phone so this one's running out of battery as I'm chatting with you, Kazuha's busy today so we can't hang out, I was going to stay home but ma kicked me out, so I was going to that big bookstore to see if anything good's out."_

"I see, well, have fun. I gotta go find my- oh. Wait, I found it." Conan groaned the last sentence, slapping his face in shame for good measure. "Today is an off day for me… as it seems for you as well."

" _Hah! Well, good for you then. Although you do seem a bit more out of it than me."_

"Well whatever, have fun and take care." Conan muttered, "See ya."

" _See ya."_

The little boy then pocketed his phone, before locking eyes with Kaito smugly. "I got his location. He'll be at the Kinokuniya bookstore at Umeda Station."

"Well good thing we're almost at the station." Kaito replied, looking at his watch. "Considering the timing, he should be there by the time we arrive. How lucky can we get, huh?"

"Yeah." The boy nodded. Actually yes, their luck _was_ astounding today. "So what do you want me to do?"

Kaito then dug around his own pockets for an emergency trick tool. This was very unelegant and un-KID like, so it was fitting. "Here." Kaito said, picking out something with his hankerchief, before dropping the object onto Conan's lap. The other boy jolted for a second as he saw the giant cockroach drop onto his knees, before he realized the realistic looking thing was actually made of rubber.

"Don't get your fingerprints on it. He's a detective, right?" Kaito warned, even though he knew the boy didn't need the reminder. "Find him in that bookstore, and while he's not looking, you need to make it appear in front of him." The teen explained. This was a very simple and effective prank, but difficult to do real time.

"I'll show you an example by making the first move, so make sure to watch carefully, okay?"

Conan nodded eagerly.

"You'll have to find him for me first though, because I'm not good at finding people I don't know, even if it's in one store." Kaito added on, because, quite honestly, he actually wasn't that familiar with the Hattori detective after all. "Here, wear this and take off your glasses." Kaito slapped on a slightly oversized cap on the boy, and grabbed the really oversized lens off of him. "Remember, he knows both of our faces, so DO NOT get caught."

"Okay."

The two only did have an hour and a half before they had to get onto the bullet train again to go back to Tokyo. They would have to plant as many rubber bugs as they could within Hattori's periphery of vision during that time.

The first one was always a gem though. Luckily, Conan quickly found his unsuspecting friend in the store. "Here, watch me." Kaito whispered, as they observed the detective from a far off-distance. "and remember, _don't_ miss the opportunity of him getting distracted by the first fake bug to plant the next one."

Kaito then sauntered over to the detective, face covered by his cap, while pretending to look at books nearby. Watching the other boy's eye movements, Kaito expertly placed a rubber green grasshopper on the book in front of Hattori, while slipping in a bunch of other fake bugs in the boy's pockets discreetly.

"Wha-?" Hattori frowned, as he leaned forwards to look at the weird looking book in front of him. Looking closer, he realized that it was looking back. Specifically, a green grasshopper. "Oh! Hey buddy, how'd you get in here?" Hattori said, grabbing at what he thought was a real bug, only to drop it as he felt rubber instead of life. "Huh?! Who put that there?" He looked around as the other guests looked at the boy quizzically for his outburst. "Maybe it's a bookstore prop… but it's so realistic. It could bother a guest that doesn't like bugs…"

Conan had taken the opportune moment of Hattori looking up and around to place the cockroach on top of the book where the grasshopper used to be, before the little boy walked away nonchalantly.

"Ew!" Hattori screeched this time, definitely getting _nasty_ looks from onlookers this time for being a nuisance. "Okay this is definitely not a bookstore prop." The detective grumbled to himself, not caring about the other customers' reactions. He grabbed the newly arrived bug, which, to his relief, was rubber as well, and stuck the two into his pockets.

Only to find himself touching more… rubbery things?

Hattori found himself shivering in rage and irritation as he realized both his pockets _filled_ with more rubber bugs. Obviously, someone was messing with _him_ personally, and although it was harmless, it still annoyed the boy to no end that someone had managed to get into his personal space like that without him noticing at all.

Storming out of the store, Hattori stumbled as he stepped outside, and glared at the ground; only to find what looked altogether like a slightly too large centipede lying on the ground behind him. Poking the disgusting thing with his foot to make sure this was a fake too, Hattori growled to himself and left it lying there. He wasn't going to entertain any stupid prankster by reacting to it more than he had to.

Hattori then felt a small, rubbery object hit his right cheek before it fell unceremoniously onto the ground. He whipped around to see who had thrown it, only to find no one. He then glared down at the ground where he had seen the object fall, and lo and behold it was a rubber slug.

"Nice aim!" Kaito whispered to his charge, impressed at the perfect hit on their target's face. "But wow, do you have pent-up frustrations against this guy or what?"

"Thanks. And yes, a little." Conan whispered back, grinning. "We're out of the rubber bugs now though; what should be do next?"

"We stop, have our really late lunch nearby, and then go back to Tokyo of course." Kaito stated. They hadn't managed to eat lunch yet after all, taking down a cult and running to meet the appointment with Nakamori, and then with this little event. Now that he remembered about food, he was extremely hungry.

"What? Stop now? That's kind of lame." Conan frowned, sounding a little disappointed. "There's no closure to this."

"Of course, that's part of the prank." Kaito replied, this time his turn to grin. "Wouldn't it be frustrating for a detective like him to be hit with an extremely meaningless and annoying prank for a very short time out of nowhere, and not be given any clues as to why or who did this?"

"Huh?"

"Like it annoys you now. It's incomplete, it's meaningless, it's nothing." Kaito stated, "The worst for those who want a logical explanation for everything. It leaves him hanging. I bet it's a terribly annoying feeling."

"Ah" Conan blinked, finally getting it, "that's terrible."

"Isn't it? Seems like this would work on you too." Kaito replied, grinning. "Come on, let's get out of here and grab something to eat. I'm starving."

"Sure."

000

Once Conan got 'home', home being the Mouri Agency, that night, he got another phone call from Heiji. He had a hard time trying not to laugh at the frustrated yells of his friend, as he blabbered on about insane people and bugs and the possible reasons and candidates of who and why this was done to him. By the time Heiji had finished his second round of rantings, Conan finally lost it and doubled over, laughing hysterically.

"Hey," he gasped, trying to get in words in between his chuckled, "sounds like your prankster knew your personality well."

" _What do you mean?"_

"The half-assed prank was probably done to frustrate you because it was absolutely _meaningless_." Conan stated, "And that's probably the worst thing for someone who always strives to find meaning in everything. I admit, I would have been in the same boat as you if that were done to me."

"… _are you kidding me."_

"I hope not. Well at least if my deduction is right, at least you won't have to worry about it happening again. At least the prank sounds harmless enough."

Conan heard Heiji sigh deeply, as he begrudgingly seemed to start calming down, _"The pains of being a well-known detective."_

"Was that boasting I heard just now?"

" _Kind of."_

"Well glad that at least you're starting to calm down. By the way, did you ever get anything at that bookstore?"

000

The next day found Kaito ramming his head on his desk at school, as he found yet _another_ article from the damned Suzuki financial advisor, challenging him to steal a treasure from the man. _Goddamit! Give me a break!_

This was pretty annoying, since Kaito had not yet finished prepping for the 'going after KID together' heist with the mini detective, and his preparations would not be ready to meet old man Suzuki's challenge.

Kaito sighed at the offending article again, his head spinning with a different approach. This was a gamble, but if executed correctly, he _might_ be able to convince Kudo that not only was Kaito _not_ Kaitou KID, he might be able to convince him that it was _impossible_.  
He knew that he was playing fire, hanging out with mini Kudo and trying to _trick_ him long term, but Kaito could make miracles happen. Granted, he knew Kudo would manage to throw off the thick layer of deceit put on him someday, but Kaito could try to keep him blind as long as possible.

 _Well Tantei-kun, seems like I have to break my promise to you._ Kaito thought to himself as he calmly contemplated how he would approach his nemesis at this next heist. _Kaito-niichan won't go to the next heist with you, but the one after that_.

"So how was your weekend rendezvous with your newly acquired relative?" Haibara asked Conan coolly during their lunch break. "Does he share your love of mysteries and sticking noses into other peoples businesses?"

Conan gave his friend an annoyed look at the thinly veiled insult, "It was a lot of fun, thank you very much, and while he does seem to like mysteries, he doesn't seem too keen on getting into other people's business."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, I guess I don't." Conan replied, pondering something before adding on, "But he does seem to never question what I am, despite me being honest with my deductions and what not."

"Hm, interesting." The girl replied, narrowing her eyes. "Interesting that you would be so careless, and interesting someone as intelligent as you described would be so disinterested in uncovering the mystery that is you."

"Hey, I wasn't _that_ careless." Conan replied hastily, trying to defend himself, "It's just, when there's a case or if there is a dead body or if we're in danger-"

"Excuses excuses." She replied, still sounding annoyed. "This is why so many people have already figured out who you are despite your circumstances. Maybe your friend already knows."

"What? Impossible." Conan said, this time defiant. "He barely knows anything about the real me other than that he looks similar, and doesn't seem to care much about homicides."

"That's what he _says_. Are you sure you've never met the boy before?"

"Well, no I don't think so." Conan frowned, trying to wrack his memory. "I would remember if I had met anyone like that."

"Didn't you say a certain moonlight magician looks like you?" Haibara pointed out, putting her chin on her hand. "And oh, this person who oh so happens to look like you, oh so happens to be a magician, oh so happens to know Inspector Nakamori well, oh so happens to be extremely intelligent, oh so happens to be uncomfortable around detectives, _also_ happens to not give two hoots that a brat like you can deal with crimes without batting an eyelash?" She rolled her eyes, "I don't know dear, he doesn't sound so innocent to me."

"But that would be too… obvious." Conan countered, though a little rattled with what she had pointed out. "KID wouldn't be that careless."

"Perhaps that's his plan? Using his usual persona of being a thief and being hidden in the shadows, he hides in the light because no one would think to look for him there." Haibara said coolly, "Maybe he knows you would think 'he wouldn't be that careless'."

"Really? You think so?"

"Well you are thinking that, aren't you?" she pointed out, smirking, "The thief is 'bold and flamboyant' in his tactics, isn't he?"

"Well I guess you've got a point there." Conan said, frowning. "But then again, he did say he would come to the next KID heist with me. He should know I wouldn't let him trick me."

"Did he tell you when the next heist was? How would he know if he wasn't KID himself?" Haibara asked, exasperated. "Is the great detective of the East losing his touch, I wonder?"

"No, he said we could write a fake heist note and KID would appear-" Conan paused, "Oh."

"Wow." Haibara stated, "He's playing with you isn't he? Well, we'll see if he's innocent soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you heard? The Suzuki financial advisor sent another challenge this morning to your new friend." The girl informed him, while handing him her phone that had the article pulled up, "This should have been unexpected for him, so if he doesn't keep your promise of going to the next heist together as originally planned, I would think long and hard about what's really going on here."

"We don't know yet if he's actually KID or not." Conan protested weakly before looking at the article. "I'll see if he can join us. But then again, it is pretty sudden, so just because he says no wouldn't make him KID."

"I know I know, innocent until proven guilty." Haibara rolled her eyes again, "I forgot, you are the great moral detective."

"Shut up Haibara."

000

"I need to get him to doubt me." Kaito explained to the nervous looking Jii as he told him about his new friendship, and his new predicament with old man Suzuki's terrible timing. After morning classes, the boy had bolted home, claiming he had the chills.

"What do you mean, young master?"

"I need to get pipsqueak to suspect me to be Kaitou KID once, and this is a great opportunity." Kaito claimed, waving around the article with Suzuki's face on it, "He'll suspect me, he'll try to figure me out several times, and then." Kaito paused, grinning at his own risky plan, "I'll disprove his doubts _completely_."

"Young master, how? Only a miracle would-"

"Yes, yes miracles! That's what I do." Kaito exclaimed, face flushed in excitement, "Hoodwinking the Heisei Sherlock Holmes!"

"No doubt it will be very difficult. Young master, you mustn't take this detective lightly; some of your closest calls have been due to this boy." Jii faltered, wringing his hands nervously. "I know I can not stop you, but please, be careful."

"Of course. This plan requires patience, several steps, and allows for no mistakes along the way." Kaito sighed dramatically, "However, this is the only way I can pull the wool over Meitantei's eyes. I need to use his own deductions to seal away the truth."

"If you say so young master." Jii sighed as he watched his crazy companion vibrate in his seat in anticipation of his 'great plan'. "Now here is the information regarding the jewel, and the traps Suzuki has in store for you this time."

\- ch 6. preview

 _Conan marveled at the beautiful cityscape as he stood on the rooftop of the city hall, which was near the museum where the heist was being held. The moon lit the world with its gentle light; as it did on most nights the thief seemed to do his work. Even though this particular heist was not planned by the thief, apparently nature still seemed to smile upon him, as the moon showed its face and the clouds cleared away._

 _The boy then turned his face towards the white clad man that had alighted near him on the same building, just as Conan had deduced he would._

 _The two looked at each other in uncharacteristic silence before Conan broke the spell. "Who are you, really?"_


	6. Bold and Flamboyant

Note: Thank you very much for the reviews! I read every single one of them at least 5 times over!

Ch 6. Bold and Flamboyant

Conan marveled at the beautiful cityscape as he stood on the rooftop of the city hall, which was near the museum where the heist was being held. The moon lit the world with its gentle light; as it did on most nights the thief seemed to do his work. Even though this particular heist was not planned by the thief, apparently nature still seemed to smile upon him, as the moon showed its face and the clouds cleared away.

The boy then turned his face towards the white clad man that had alighted near him on the same building, just as Conan had deduced he would.

The two looked at each other in uncharacteristic silence before Conan broke the spell. "Who are you, really?"

He heard the thief's smooth voice chuckle in response to the question, an arrogant grin gracing the part of the face not obscured by the white top hat. "Who am I? I am a kaitou, a thief, a magician." The man's monocle glittered in the moonlight as he looked up, "I could be asking you the same question."

Conan paused, not bothering to move from his position on the roof to attack the thief as he usually did. "Don't play dumb with me. You already know who I am."

"I know your real name, your real identity." The thief answered smoothly, while he took out a milky white jewel out of his pocket, and held it up to the moonlight. "However, a name doesn't tell everything, an identity doesn't reveal the heart." KID tutted, seeming to be disappointed with the result of his inspection of the jewel. "And alas, it seems this is not the gem I was looking for either."

The detective didn't answer, being a little surprised at the cryptic statement made by the mysterious thief. Then he remembered the threats on KID's life, the strange search the thief seemed to be doing for some gem, the sad way Kaito had looked at him the one time-

"Move!" Conan's vision was momentarily obscured, as a white cape swiftly covered him, and the boy was bodily picked up. The thief, who had snatched him, was already gliding in the moonlight with a stunned detective in one arm. KID glanced back at the roof, and then at the surrounding buildings, and cursed. The man then somersaulted and twisted in the air, avoiding unmistakable shots from guns. Conan realized in horror that he smelled blood, and then… a sort of… perfume? _What_? That came out of nowhere. Did the phantom thief ever wear perfume before? It didn't smell particularly feminine, so perhaps it was part of an earlier disguise… _no! what am I thinking about? Blood! There's blood! Has he been shot?_

"KID, you-"

A gloved finger elegantly placed itself on the little boy's lips, shushing him of his concerns, "It is but a scrape, no need to fret." Conan frowned, and then remembered that the phantom thief himself was currently carrying him. He tried to get a good look at the man's face. Even if it was obscured by shadows and a monocle, now that he had another face to compare it to, Conan could now see how _exactly_ alike his new magician friend and this older, 'friend', of sorts looked.

"Are you…" Conan started, but then faltered. Would it seriously be this easy? Would the great Kaitou KID be this sloppy?

"Kaito Kuroba?" the thief suggested, and then laughed at the look the boy he was holding gave him. The pair finally alighted on a different building overlooking Beika Park. By now, their pursuers had been lost, and the thief seemed to have visibly relaxed. "He is a personal favorite of mine to scapegoat; even more than you, my dear Meitantei."

"…" Conan didn't answer, fixing his sharp eyes onto the …boy?... man? "Really?"

"That is for you to figure out, isn't it?" KID answered, gracefully preparing his escape, "A magician never reveals his secrets."

"When is your next heist?" Conan yelled, grabbing onto the cape to delay the escape, "I'm supposed to go with this Kaito Kuroba to catch you. He couldn't come to your heist this time, but the next one, he should be able to make it if you give ample notice."

"I'll let Inspector Nakamori know when my next heist is tomorrow." The thief replied, jerking the cape out of the boy's clutches, and picking off the transmitter attached. "And you know, this is a bit extreme, isn't it?" He motioned to the transmitter, giving Conan a challenging grin.

"That's rich coming from you-" Conan paused, wondering where he'd had this exchange before, "Wait… how'd you-?"

"I know a lot of things, Tantei-kun." KID cackled as he tossed away the transmitter, and then picked off the other one the detective had placed on his chest area. He had noticed the boy had placed the obvious one on his cape to keep the thief from realizing the other one, but it was to no avail. "Especially a lot about Kaito-kun."

"Then do you know he was almost _killed_ because someone thought he was one of us?"

Conan was met with silence, as the thief in front of him obscured his face, and then _left._ Left without another word, leaving the little boy stunned. He would never understand the phantom thief, it seemed. Conan would have thought that he would show at least a _little_ concern that someone had been targeted due to being mistaken as him, but he had decided not to comment. The boy sighed; well at least he knew the thief kept his word about his heists. Tomorrow he would have to watch the news.

Kaito awoke the next day drowsy, in pain in many different places, and altogether cranky. He then remembered his slightly different after-heist chat with his little detective 'friend' that he had had yesterday. It seemed that Conan was already suspecting him, just as he had planned. Although unfortunately, it was not with the conviction Kaito had been hoping for it to be. Despite the amount of time Kaito had spent with the mini detective, he still couldn't get a read on the real personality of Shinichi Kudo.

Even if Kaito had the opportunity to get to know Conan Edogawa, he would only be able to meet the fake personality. He did get glimpses of the real Kudo underneath the boyish mask from time to time, since the boy was no actor, but it was not enough to understand the real him. Kaito wished there was a way to get 'Kaito' to realize who Conan was, so he could interact with the real persona, but he knew that would be too much trouble. Besides, Kaito knew that the boy's fear of being figured out was a big safety feature in his relationship with Conan.

He sighed, _I wish we could just be real friends._ The teen thought groggily as he pulled himself out of bed. Kaito froze as he realized what his treacherous mind had just admitted. _Really?_ Maybe his many injuries were messing with his sanity. Head injuries and bullet wounds, despite being non-fatal and grazes, weren't laughing matters after all.

Conan nibbled on his breakfast toast as he watched the news with old man Mouri and Ran. As the thief had promised, the news was filled with stories about the next heist announced by Kaitou KID. The police force hadn't figured out the exact date yet, but it seemed they were predicting it would be within the next few weeks.

"That thief sure is busy," Kogoro scoffed, as he watched the news with disdain, "Didn't he just go to that heist with Suzuki yesterday? Wonder what's up with him planning another heist so soon?"

"Dad, don't be like that." Ran chided, before turning towards Conan. "And you! Don't think you're going to another heist anytime soon. Yesterday I heard there were gunshots! Not only that, you were taken away by KID himself and ended up near Beika Park in the middle of the night?"

"Ra-Ran-neechan!" Conan exclaimed, slightly panicked. Right, he couldn't decide to go on heists of his own accord. However, this next one, he _had_ to. "Kaito-niichan said he would go with me to this next heist, so I-"

"Kaito-niichan?" Kogoro frowned at the unfamiliar name. "Who is this?"

"He's a friend of mine and Inspector Nakamori's!" Conan exclaimed. Right, he hadn't told the Mouris about his escapade with Kaito last weekend. He had told them he would just be spending time at the professors that one time. It wouldn't do for him to be gaining so many extra 'relatives'. "He's a magician so he helps out at KID heists sometimes, and he told me I could go with him on the next one!"

"Kaito?" Kogoro frowned, saying the name again. "Magician? What's his last name again?"

"Oh, that's right, I never did get his last name." Ran added on, looking over at Conan expectantly. "Maybe Shinichi might know him." Conan inwardly rolled his eyes. _Just because I look like him doesn't mean I would know who he is._

"Why would that detective boy know him?" Kogoro asked, looking at his daughter quizzically, before something seemed to click in his head. "It isn't Kuroba is it?"

Conan froze at this unexpected comment, while Ran rounded on her father, "Kuroba? As in that famous magician?"

"Why would Shinichi-niichan know a magician named Kuroba?" Conan asked, forgetting that he was supposed to be supplying them with Kaito's last name; which, incredibly, was Kuroba. He was missing something here. Missing something very important. _Famous magician?_

"Well Eri used to talk about how Yukiko-chan was getting lessons from a famous magician named Kuroba. I never met him but I think she mentioned he also had a son close to your age named Kaito." Kogoro explained to Ran, before looking over at Conan with an annoyed look. "So, is it?"

"I… I don't know!" Conan hastily replied, and then finished off his breakfast to leave the table as soon as possible. He didn't know why he had lied like that, but for some reason Conan felt this was crucial, and dangerous information that he didn't need the Mouris digging into. If Kaito really _was_ the phantom thief, his parents could very well hold the keys to this information, and for some reason, he wanted to respect the teen's secret. Either way, he wasn't going to have Kaito meeting Ran or Kogoro any time soon until he was sure the boy was innocent.

The boy then paused in his steps as what he had just thought struck him. _Am I really trying to help conceal the identity of an internationally wanted criminal?_ Conan shook his head to clear that guilty thought. _No, I'm trying to protect-_ What _was_ he trying to protect? A friend? Kaito? But that meant Conan believed his 'friend' was a criminal. If he really believed in his 'friend', there would be no need to try and 'protect' the guy's presumed hidden identity.

 _I really need to get this straightened out._ Conan sighed to himself. He had to get to a private place to talk to his mother to get information on this 'Kuroba' character.

Kaito sneezed on his way to school, earning him a dirty look from his companion. "Don't tell me you've caught a cold." Aoko reprimanded her friend. "If you have, make sure you don't give it to me."

"I haven't caught a cold." Kaito denied the accusation as he rolled his eyes. "And besides, idiots don't catch colds, so you have no reason to worry."

"You're such a jerk, Kaito, that I can't believe you actually helped take down bad guys during your trip with dad last weekend. I bet it was all Conan Edogawa-kun's doing, and you just sat there and took part of the credit!" Aoko exclaimed, referencing the case Kaito and Conan had solved on their way to Kobe. "He's such a bright boy! You should take after his example!"

"You only like him because he's the KID killer." Kaito grumbled, feeling a pang of irritation about the girl's reverence for the detective. "By the way, heard he got away yesterday. _Again_."He snickered as the girl glowered at the comment, "from both your father _and_ Conan-kun. KID is unbeatable!"

"Well why don't _you_ try and catch KID for once, you insufferable moron?" Aoko snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "At least dad and that little boy can get close or get the jewel back. _You_ on the other hand, probably wouldn't stand a _chance._ "

Kaito pretended to ponder the suggestion. He _had_ been to heists before to 'help out' but it was more so as an observer, not a participant in the chase. This next time, however, would be different. "Well _actually_ , now that you mention it, I have a date with the little 'Conan-kun' at the next KID heist to try and catch the phantom thief once and for all."

Aoko blinked, before breaking into a brilliant smile. "I knew it! I knew Kaito would come around one day and admit that KID is a terrible criminal that must be detained!"

"Hey! I never admitted to that much!" Kaito exclaimed, pretending to be offended. "I just said I would help go after KID. I'm not confident in catching such a legendary thief though. He does give the greatest detectives the slip after all."

The girl frowned suspiciously, "You sound a little proud about that."

"Why wouldn't I be as a fellow magician?" Kaito countered, grinning mischievously, "The way he performs miracles; it would be impossible not to be impressed with his stunts!"

"Are you sure you're not going to sabotage my dad?" Aoko pouted, crossing her arms, "Because I swear to god if I find out you-"

"No of course not! Besides, I'm going to have that little detective by my side! I wouldn't be able to do anything like that!"

"He's a little kid!" Aoko exclaimed, still looking at him suspiciously, "You could very _well_ give him the slip."

"No… I really can't." Kaito said, waving away the accusation. _You really have no idea._

He then frowned as he caught a whiff of… perfume? _Ugh,_ he wrinkled his nose at the scent. It wasn't bad at all, but he didn't like that he smelled… unique. It was probably the perfume his mother had sprayed all over him upon her return to Japan yesterday. Kaito, horrified, had tried to get the scent off of him as much as he could before his heist last night. Smells ingrained themselves into memory in special situations after all, and they were difficult to disguise and switch around as quickly as faces. It stood out too; especially in a society like Japan where perfumes were not in high use. Kaito sniffed his arm to make sure none of it was on his uniform.

Maybe it had gotten on his watch? _Damn you mom! Where else did you get the stuff on?_

000

Conan was looking at him very intensely. Kaito knew he should have expected that, but the stare was so _intense_ , the boy couldn't help but wonder if the kid could see right through him. They were at the heist together, as promised, and were waiting by Nakamori as the inspector got the last minute preparations together to catch the elusive thief.

Kaito took out his handkerchief to wipe his slightly damp hands, and then inwardly frowned as he got a whiff of that perfume again. _Mom I swear…_

He thought, before using it as if he hadn't noticed anything weird about it, and put it back into his pocket.

Kaito saw Conan's eyes widen a fraction at this action, which left Kaito sweating. _What did I do now? I can't get a read on this freaky kid. Was there something on my handkerchief?_

This time, the target would be a jewel named "Abyss". It was pitch black in color; ironically the opposite of the jewel from the last heist, which was milky white.

Not that it mattered to the real Kaitou KID. He had already checked out the jewel before the heist to see if it was Pandora, and as expected, it was not.

In truth, Kaito was exhausted just as he was excited due to the impending heist. He himself would not be playing the main part, but his substitute, although a master of disguises and a legendary thief herself, was _not_ a magician.

Jii, bless his soul, would be helping to make the execution of the show possible, but preparations had been mostly Kaito's work. Tonight was a show specifically for his favorite critic; he couldn't disappoint him, even if Kaito would never get the credit.

Speaking of Tantei-kun… "What's up with you today? Something on my face?" Kaito asked, quirking an eyebrow at the little boy. Despite the question, however, Conan did not reduce the intensity of his look.

"Kaito-niichan." He said, a little too calmly for the magician's liking. "What is… _who_ is Kaitou KID to you?"

Kaito blinked, confused by the cryptic, and unexpected question. "What?"

"Who is KID to you?" Conan repeated, looking at the teen with his sharp eyes, "You know, don't you? Who he is."

"What? What makes you think-"

"THREE"

The two boys, along with the rest of the taskforce, snapped their heads towards the booming announcement that sounded from a different part of the building. KID had started his stunt. Kaito thanked his lucky stars that the strange interrogation from the boy had started without enough time to finish before the heist.

"TWO" the announcement came from a different part of the building; this time the opposite from the first one. Clearly, the sound system in the building had been high jacked, and the thief was announcing from wherever he pleased.

"ONE" the smooth voice announced, before the room they were in, with the jewel of course, was dipped into darkness. Then, amidst the yelling and chaos, the black room started…glittering.

It was beautiful, really, if one were to try to appreciate it. The pitch-black room was littered with white, glowing dots, reminiscent of stars on a clear, summer night. For a moment, Kaito felt like he was floating in space, in nothing. He didn't care if he sounded narcissistic he loved his tricks.

Then, a single spotlight lit the middle of the room where the jewel was encased. The task force, Kaito, and Conan, watched stunned, as Kaitou KID in all his white glory literally floated onto the case.

Kaito faintly noted that Conan was holding onto his hand, but wasn't even looking at Kaito's face. He just had that intense gaze turned onto the phantom thief for the evening. _What are you thinking?_ He felt the grip on his hand become tighter as 'KID' lazily turned his gaze onto the pair, and smirked in his trademark manner.

As the taskforce snapped out of their gaze and tackled the thief, the spotlight blinked off, taking the existence of the phantom thief with it. Kaito blinked as he felt a slight breeze sweep through the air, along with cool _somethings_ brushing his face and other exposed skin softly as they swirled before falling to the ground. It smelled of roses, and of that damned… perfume.

Kaito blinked as the lights finally came on. It seemed his mother had added her own flair to the show, and he wasn't exactly complaining. The beautiful, starry skies created by the dark had been swept back into the light with a flurry of blue rose petals, lightly scented with a perfume. _What was the name of that scent again? Right, 'Midnight in Paris' or something like that._ The lady's touch to his show was dazzling, but he knew the performance was far from over.

Although the gem, predictably, was gone, the thief should still be fair game.

He looked down at the boy next to him, who was uncharacteristically still for a KID heist.

"Hey, Tantei-kun." Kaito said, causing the boy to jump. _Weird._ "Where do you think he ran off to? The building is sealed off, the windows are impossible to penetrate, and there is no way out of here through vents or back doors."

"His usual tactic is to impersonate someone or to use a dummy to make the task force think he's already escaped, creating a distraction." Conan replied matter of factly, still not looking at Kaito's face. The boy seemed to be looking for something in the room as the way he was scanning everything around indicated. "Just a distraction. He always uses something to make us look away from the real trick. Like a magician."

"He _is_ a magician after all." Kaito muttered, the comment finally earning him a sharp look from Conan. " _What_ is up with you today, seriously?"

"Can you run, Kaito-niichan?"

"Huh? Of course I can. I'm no cripp-"

"Then carry me on your back." Conan demanded uncharacteristically. "I can't keep up with you if we ran around together."

Kaito quirked his eyebrows in confusion, but obliged as he crouched down to let the little kid scramble on. He then looked over his shoulder to talk to the boy. "Where to now, sire?"

Conan rolled his eyes, "To the West wing of this building."

"Why?" Kaito knew why, but he had to keep up appearances. "What's interesting about the West wing?"

The bespectled boy then narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Don't tell me you haven't checked out the blueprints for this building."

"Well, yes, I have."

"Then you know exactly why." Conan huffed. "The breakers are in that part of the building, and it takes about 5 minutes of quick running to get from this room to there. That's the approximate time it took from when KID disappeared to this room gaining light again."

"How do you know it was KID pulling the breaker?"

"No one was stationed near there." Conan snapped, "Weren't you listening to a word of the plans the Inspector laid out? Now come on, let's go!"

"Fine, fine." Kaito grumbled as he headed towards the west wing. "It's been about 5 minutes since the breakers went up though. Do you honestly think KID would still be hanging out there?"

"No, but there is no way to the other wings from the west wing right now, considering how they were sealed off today personally by the task force." Conan said, "And not by some random outside party that KID could have snuck one of his colleagues in."

The two quickly arrived at the breaker room where KID supposedly had been. The moment the two opened the door they were greeted with a beautiful, but strange sight. Kaito froze. This was _not_ … exactly how he had planned this. Granted, part of his show was still there, but his mother's touches were… creepy this time.

The breaker room looked entirely frozen. The pair stood right outside the door, as a cool, heavy mist that stayed by their feet poured out of the room. The inside of the room seemed to be completely frozen solid, as a wall of glittering ice prevented the two boys from entering the room. This part was fine for Kaito, as he had helped prepare this. What he hadn't planned for was the numerous objects he saw 'frozen' in air inside the room, and some in the ice wall.

They were bugs. Specifically the rubber bugs the two boys had used in their small prank against the Osaka detective the other day. Sure, he had told his mom about that, but what the hell was she thinking, sticking them here?

"W…wha-" Kaito stuttered, losing his voice. Still, he had an act to pull. _Look creeped out._ "Those are…"

"Yes, those are the fake bugs we used on Heiji-oniichan." Conan whispered behind his back, sounding impressed but somehow not… surprised?

 _Why?_ Rattled by the strange non-reaction by the boy, Kaito almost didn't realize Conan had requested him to get out of the breaker room. "Sorry… come again?"

"I said, can you check out that part of the ceiling over there at the end of this hallway?"

"Sure." Kaito replied, automatically jerking his head over to where the boy had instructed him to go. The boy had probably observed that the light fixture over at the end of the hallway had a dimmer glow than the rest. Kaito knew Conan was right in looking there, because that was the escape route to the upper floor.

Kaito let the boy stand on his shoulders in order to carefully take off the light fixture. What he didn't expect was the shower of scented blue rose petals falling out of the now partly exposed escape route. _MOM I swear to GOD_. He then shivered despite himself as he heard a clunk, and several more sharp clunks as small seashells also fell to the ground from whatever the rose petals were held in.

 _First the bugs, then the seashells...Mom are you trying to appear as some sort of stalker?_ Then it hit him. _Wait..._ Kaito remembered the words that had come out of his own mouth the other day at his last heist.

" _I know a lot of things Tantei-kun… especially about Kaito-kun."_

And then the weird question the little boy had asked him right before the heist. _"Who is Kaitou KID to you?"_

His heart froze at the implications of his own words and then his mother's ad-libs to his performance. Of course, this would help in clearing him but-

Kaito's thoughts were interrupted as Conan finally managed to completely expose the opening, causing the lights in the hallway to completely go out again. Now _this_ was part of Kaito's planned show, but he was getting more nervous as the night went on. Although he knew his mother was the only one good enough to pull off the heist with the grace required of Kaitou KID, Kaito was beginning to regret getting her involved. She had her own brand of insanity that couldn't be underestimated after all.

The dark hallway was littered with glowing stars, not unlike the room that held the gem. There was a tinkling noise that started faintly and then got louder, complete with soft, flashes of light as glittery poofs of smoke got closer and closer to them as the tinkling did as well. Acting scared, Kaito grabbed the momentarily stunned Conan off of his shoulders, and tossed him overhead into the escape route they had just 'discovered'. Kaito then gracefully pulled himself out of the hallway and into the ceiling as well, looking down at the glittering mess beneath them.

Although this was part of his show, that didn't mean Kaito himself liked being covered in glitter. That stuff was not fun to get out. "Come on, let's go." Kaito muttered, motioning for Conan to follow him. "Despite your accusation earlier, I _have_ looked at the blueprints for this building. This is the only way out to a place other than the hallway below."

"Glad you're actually participating." Conan muttered, "Thought for a second there that you might not be willing."

As the two climbed out of the dark space between floors, they found themselves in a small office room. The room was empty and devoid of any life, but they found the large window open, with the translucent, white curtains fluttering in the wind. The sky was clear and the moon was out again, giving the room an eerie glow.

Predictably, Conan ran towards the open window, before Kaito grabbed the boy back by the arm. Not a moment too late, as a trump card twirled through the air, and many more followed in the space between the two boys and the window. If Kaito hadn't grabbed Conan, the boy would have been in the middle of the card storm. It wouldn't have been dangerous, but still, it would have been a nuisance for the boy. After the card shower was over, they found the previously open window to be shut.

-ch 7. Preview

 _Surprised, Conan ran over to investigate, with Kaito following closely at his heels. Of course the magician knew what had happened, since he was the one who had set it up, but he wanted to see if his mother had added another creepy stalkerish message to his trick._

 _Kaito paled as he saw that one windowpane had been misted over, and written on with a finger. "No…zo…mi?" Conan read, looking over at Kaito worriedly. Although the teen now knew what his mother was trying to do, Kaito could still act the part of the freaked out teen that thought he was being stalked._

" _That's… the name of the bullet train we rode to and from Kobe."_

" _Yes." Kaito almost jumped out of his skin as he heard a voice literally whisper into his ear. He scrambled backwards into the wall, putting himself as far away from the voice as possible in the tiny room. His heart beat furiously as he looked around, only finding Conan by his side._

 _Then he saw him._ _ **Err…her**_ _he automatically thought, but dismissed his snarky self. Kaito was seeing Kaitou KID standing in the shadows in all his white clad, and somehow still sneaky, glory._


	7. Twilight in Tokyo

Ch 7. Twilight in Tokyo

Surprised, Conan ran over to investigate, with Kaito following closely at his heels. Of course the magician knew what had happened, since he was the one who had set it up, but he wanted to see if his mother had added another creepy stalkerish message to his trick.

Kaito paled as he saw that one windowpane had been misted over, and written on with a finger. "No…zo…mi?" Conan read, looking over at Kaito worriedly. Although the teen now knew what his mother was trying to do, Kaito could still act the part of the freaked out teen that thought he was being stalked.

"That's… the name of the bullet train we rode to and from Kobe."

"Yes." Kaito almost jumped out of his skin as he heard a voice literally whisper into his ear. He scrambled backwards into the wall, putting himself as far away from the voice as possible in the tiny room. His heart beat furiously as he looked around, only finding Conan by his side.

Then he saw him. _Err…her_ he automatically thought, but dismissed his snarky self. Kaito was seeing Kaitou KID standing in the shadows in all his white clad, and somehow still sneaky, glory.

Despite knowing whom it was behind the monocle, and knowing the tricks behind the evening's magic, Kaito still felt… disoriented. Maybe it was the combined scent of the perfume and the roses that was adding to the magic. The moon lit room felt stuffy and isolated from the rest of the world with the combination of fluttering cards, fluttering blue rose petals, and… fluttering cape?

"Hey, _wait!_ " Kaito exclaimed, as the phantom thief vanished into the hallway, making quick work of the door. He swiftly grabbed Tantei-kun and tossed him on his back to continue the chase. Bursting into the hallway, the two boys looked frantically around, before realizing that they had been in a corner room. There was only one way down the hallway.

The two flinched as a series of BANGs followed, making each door in the hallway fly open, one by one; starting with the one closest to them. Of course, the hallway was plunged into the starry darkness that had engulfed the jewel room and the hallway in the lower floor.

Conan gripped Kaito's shoulders tightly, as he watched in amazement the starry abyss they had been tossed into again. He had to admit; it was kind of like being on an amusement park ride except it was real. The feeling of his companion's shirt in this hands were comforting, in that it gave him a physical reminder that they, indeed, were still in reality. As they started down the hallway, however, Conan yelled at his friend to stop, as he caught a glimpse into the room next to them.

"Oh… my god." Conan gasped, not believing his eyes. The view from the window in the next room showed a city landscape with… absolutely no lights. "Wha-" Conan tried to scramble out of the teen's grasp to go and investigate if the window had been messed with, but was prevented.

"Come on, we don't have time!" Kaito exclaimed, looking pale but determined as he looked down the hallway. The teen seemed more intent on catching the thief than figuring out the impossible trick of the city power outage. Perhaps, being a magician himself, he already knew.

Conan couldn't blame the boy from being nervous though; the implications of the little 'messages' left by the phantom thief should have been pretty jarring for the teen if he really hadn't been expecting it.

With a protesting little detective in tow, Kaito continued running down the hallway, focusing on the direction the thief had gone. He noted with hidden glee however, at the way the little critic on his back was staring wide eyed at the inside of the rooms they were passing by. As they passed each room, the city lights recovered little by little, completely recovering three quarters of the way down the hallway, before earning too many lights by the time they were completely at the end.

However, Kaito pretended to be oblivious to this sideshow until they reached the last room, a dead end. That was when the teenage magician finally looked into the last room, and yelped as he was almost blinded by the too fabulous cityscape. Running into the room, he swiped the curtains shut, noting that the color of these drapes were a wine red, as opposed to the translucent white from the first room.

He then felt the mini detective jump off of his perch on his back, as Kaito caught another whiff of the perfume and roses, and whipped around to face the room just as the lights glowed on.

Again, in the corner, stood the phantom thief. However, this time, he was prodding his chin quizzically as he looked over at the coffee table in the middle of the room.

Out of all the unexpected events that had happened tonight, this particular one made Kaito's blood run cold.

Because right there on the coffee table were two, small plates: one with a slice of chocolate cake on it, and the other a slice of lemon pie. Although Kaito had thought about getting cake with the mini detective during their time in Kobe, they never did get the chance, so 'Kaito' had no way of knowing the significance of the two cakes together. But then, neither did Conan have any way of knowing Kaito's favorite cake either.

Additionally, he didn't think his mother knew about the detective's favorite food since Kaito hadn't bothered to tell him. The thief had found this out by accident a while ago, but didn't think it to be a significant fact.

So this was a trap. This was an Ellery Queen style trap by a detective that leaves a cryptic, meaningful message that would only make sense to the guilty one. Kudo had placed this last one, and Kaito had been expected to make the momentary sincere reaction to throw a glance at Conan. However, he was the great Kaitou KID, master of Poker Face, illusionist to the core. He wouldn't fall for this trap, if even for a moment.

But how had he known? How had he known about the chocolate cake?

"Interesting." 'Kaitou KID' breathed, as he slowly walked towards Kaito and Conan, the former backing away. Kaito resisted the urge to blink as he noted with shock that his mother had looked at the lemon pie, and then didn't hesitate to look over at Conan. The little boy, in turn, smirked.

"So…as I suspected. You even know my favorite food." Conan stated cryptically, putting himself between Kaito and 'KID'. "Do you stalk all of your lookalikes?"

"Mmmm a magician never reveals his secrets, my dear Tantei-kun." 'KID' replied with a chuckle. "Though you don't seem to be so innocent yourself." He said, indicating the chocolate cake, "How did you know Kaito-kun's favorite cake?"

"My mother told me."

Kaito blinked. _Conan's mother? Or Shinichi's?_ "How would your mother-?"

"Ah, Yukiko-san." 'KID' replied without missing a beat, not even acknowledging Kaito's confusion, "Beautiful lady. Send her my regards would you?"

 _How did she-?_ Kaito was thoroughly confused now. Both with how Shinichi's mother knew Kaito's favorite food, and how his own mother knew that Conan was Shinichi. Kaito _had_ told his mother that pipsqueak was not what he seemed, but he had respected the detective's secret and not told her who he was.

"How do you know my mother?" Conan asked, narrowing his eyes. He had garnered from his conversation with Yukiko what little information he could about the Kurobas, but as usual, his parents never gave him a straight answer. When he had confessed his suspicion about Kaito being the second generation KID, he had only been met with the chiding words of his mother, and the faint sound of his father laughing in the background.

"Who doesn't?" 'KID' then glanced over at the shell-shocked Kaito. "Well I guess Kaito-kun here might not."

"What is your relationship with the Kurobas?" Conan asked, narrowing his eyes. Perhaps this was the key to this phantom's identity. "What is your relationship with Kaito?"

"Oh?" 'KID' gasped in mock offense, putting his gloved hand up to his face, "How _brash_ of you, Tantei-kun. And here I thought we were having a conversation between gentlemen."

"What do you-" Conan never got to finish his conversation, as KID cackled and left in a whirl of flower petals. But this time, the petals were… maroon?

"What-" Kaito stammered, genuinely confused and a little scared how close to home and yet how far Conan seemed to be in his search for KID's real identity. Granted, Kaito had wanted Conan to come to that 'close enough to be satisfactory but completely wrong' conclusion, but this was going way beyond what he had expected. Besides, from what he had picked up from the conversation, it seemed his and Shinichi's parents were acquaintances.

For a moment, he felt his heart break as he realized that maybe his father and Shinichi's parents had known-

"Kaito-niichan! Let's go!" Conan snapped the teenager out of his reverie, as he pulled on his sleeve. "The window! We're almost at the top floor, so can you take us to the rooftop from here?"

"Y…yes." Kaito replied, still reeling from the strange conversation that had happened in the room, and strangely bothered by the change in petal colors. Was that his mother's way of saying sorry? She never apologized so what was going on? Kaito cleared his head as the cool night breeze caressed his face, getting rid of the scent of that perfume, the rose, and the enchantment that the show inside had put over him. "Hang tight."

The scene that greeted the two as they landed on the moon lit rooftop made time stop for them. There, the moment the two had arrived, a strange man in black had pulled the trigger to a gun, and a large patch of red blossomed on the white costume of the phantom thief, causing the shot man to crumple to the ground.

Noticing the arrival of the two boys, the shooter turned tail and ran, jumping off the roof and grabbing onto a rope ladder that had been tossed down from a helicopter flying overhead.

However, the two boys paid no heed to the assassin, as they ran towards the wounded 'KID', hoping against hope that he was still alive. The few seconds it took for them to run over felt like eternity, and Kaito fell to his knees in front of the bloody mess, trying to stay calm despite his shaking nerves.

Conan was horrified as well, as he had witnessed the potential murder of one of his long acquaintances, enemies or not. And besides, although he could not gage the weird relationship Kaito seemed to have with the thief, Conan felt that his new friend would be devastated if the man had died.

So with two heavy hearts, the boys inspected the body; only to find it was a dummy.

They both sighed with relief. Kaito wiped his hands with his handkerchief, not realizing how clammy with cold sweat they had gotten. His face and body language, he could control at will, his sweat glands, it seemed he could not. _Ah, that scent again._ He thought absentmindedly. _Mom… I thought you…_ Maybe that was why she had left those maroon petals behind; to warn him of this sick stunt.

They heard a soft 'clink' and the two whipped their heads over to the soft sound, only to see a dark gem, the 'Abyss' glittering in the moonlight, rolling around haphazardly on the roof top in a manner unfitting of its worth.

" _I am a phantom_ " Both Kaito and Conan jumped as they both heard a whisper by their ears. However, there was no breath, no warmth. Just a close voice, almost as if a celestial being really were speaking to them. _"I cannot die until-"_ Kaito looked over at Conan, who was holding something by his ear. It seemed the little detective had also figured out the trick of the disembodied voice. There was a mini speaker hooked onto one of both of their ears. " _I destroy immortality_."

The whispered phrase ended, and the other end went silent. Left stunned by that cryptic message, the two boys looked at each other in silence. One pondering what that meant, and the other impressed by the theatrics. Then Conan blinked, as he wordlessly pointed up at the sky. Kaito looked up behind him where Conan had pointed, pretending to look curious but knowing what to expect.

This was the last part of his show, the climax before the curtains closed for the night.

"Make a wish, Tantei-kun." He breathed, as he smiled. His companion didn't answer; no doubt in awe of the meteor shower adorning the sky, and probably trying to think up of a scientific answer as to how Kaitou KID had managed this miracle.

000

"Mom." Kaito greeted his mother after they met up for the first time after their combined heist. "I have a lot of questions for you. But, before that, although I hate to admit it that was… an amazing heist."

Chikage chortled as she nonchalantly drank her tea in the middle of the barely used kitchen, "Have I paid you back in full for what you did for me with the Ryoma treasures?"

"More than enough." Kaito replied, rubbing his chest, "Though that was mean, scaring me like that at the end. I thought I had lost you."

"Well that's your fault for not letting me know that you had become friends with Shinichi-kun." Kaito's mother pouted, squinting her eyes at her only son, "What were you thinking? Not letting me in on this crucial detail? What is this, 'oh little Tantei-kun is not what he seems, that's all you need to know mom' crap?"

"Well it seems he's in hiding and-" Kaito started, trying to defend himself, before frowning. "Wait, what do you mean 'Shinichi'-kun. Do you know him and his parents or something?"

"Yes." Chikage replied, her previously unhappy complexion turning mischievous, "Well Shinichi-kun probably doesn't remember us, but your father and I used to know his parents way back when."

"Did they know what dad was?" Kaito asked, a lump forming in his throat. If that was so, then maybe all this time, he didn't really have to-

"I think the father knew; probably not the mother though." She added on, "definitely not the son."

"Do you think he would tell his son who my dad was?" Kaito asked, creasing his brows. The Kudos were…weird. What were they thinking? Keeping a secret like that from the police? From their _son_ who was chasing the current KID, not having a _clue_?

"No way!" Chikage exclaimed, "That father is probably laughing his butt off right now, knowing his son has gotten so close, and yet gotten to the wrong conclusion about you."

"Right," Kaito sighed, there was Tantei-kun. He wasn't sure if his plan to get Tantei-kun to completely doubt his role as being Kaitou KID was successful. After all, his carefully knit plans were not followed to a tee thanks to his unpredictable mother and unpredictable family ties that seemed to have been discovered by Tantei-kun before him. "Mom, you really think Shinichi got the wrong conclusion about me?"

"I think so." Chikage then cackled as she received a message on her phone and read it. "Look, from Yukiko-chan, Shinichi-kun's mother."

Kaito took the phone tossed to him, and read the new message, which read:

 _Chikage-chan! Shin-chan keeps asking me weird questions about your family and Kaitou KID! First he accuses Kaito-kun, and now he's asking if Toichi-kun had a student, or if Kaito-kun has a twin. I'm worried about him. Oh… and Yusaku won't stop laughing. Do you know what's going on?_

"This is far from good." Kaito grumbled, dropping the phone onto the counter, and placing his forehead next to it. "It seems he's diverted his attention from me for potential other targets, but it's only a matter of time…"

"Well he's convinced for now isn't he?"

"Mom-"

"Living life on edge, my son, all grown up! Toichi would be proud." She sighed, putting her hand over her heart, before her eyes went hard. "And son, I've temporarily convinced one of your potential killers that you've died that night, and that Kaito Kuroba is not Kaitou KID, but…" she sighed again, this time with genuine heaviness. "Remember to stay careful. You don't have to finish your father's work. The gem may not exist for all we know. I don't want you dying over this."

"Mom…" Kaito repeated, feeling guilty at worrying her this much. But this was something he had to do, something he had to finish. "Mom by the way, do you think…"

"Hm? Is Kaito-kun _actually_ asking me for advice on something?"

"Oh stop with the teasing," the teenager rolled his eyes, before continuing. "Do you think I should become friends with Shinichi? Not just Conan… but the real guy."

"What, do you want to?" his mother teased, smirking at her son, who looked annoyed and embarrassed. "Well I don't see why not, but you know you won't be able to keep him from befriending you as KID as well if you do that."

"Why not?"

Chikage laughed, pinching her son's cheek to rid him of the arrogant smirk, "Because that's not real friendship you dope."

"Fine." Kaito sighed, and then he stretched and yawned. He really needed to turn in for the night. Too many weird happenings and too many weird thoughts. "If he figures me out, I'll let him be my friend."

"My what a queen you are."

"Not as much as you."

"Whatever. Good night."

"Night, dear."

000

The next morning found Conan dazed and fumbling as he stumbled his way towards the kitchen for breakfast. He had been tossing and turning all night, trying to figure what had gone wrong in his observations yesterday. Conan had clearly missed something, or had failed to extract the clue that would link Kaito Kuroba with Kaitou KID. The KID he had seen yesterday seemed to be the genuine thing. The grace, the dexterity, the skill, and the knowledge of strange, trivial details of his person could not be faked. Not only that, Conan had Kaito by his side the entire evening, showing sincere surprise and fear at all the right moments. _Except_ … The handkerchief before the heist started.

The boy had taken out a handkerchief that smelled of the same perfume KID had on the evening before, and had used during the entirety of the heist. Kaito hadn't acted surprised or alarmed at the scent, but Conan had noticed that the boy had put it away immediately. That discrepancy was the one thread that was keeping Kaito from being completely tossed out of his potential KID candidates. The one last night could have been a fake, but… it was too skillful to be a fake. _Goddamit what is going on?_ Conan sighed, putting his forehead on the table.

This had been the same thought cycle over and over again. Going over every detail from the night before, finally settling on the handkerchief, and then finally denying himself due to the unmistakable authenticity of the KID from yesterday.

"Conan-kun, what's wrong?" Ran asked, looking over, concerned at the miserable looking boy. "Did something bad happen at the heist yesterday?"

"No, I'm just confused." Conan said, sighing. This earned him a surprised look from the girl as well as a scoff from her father.

"Dad." Ran gave her father a look, before turning her concern over to the boy, "What are you confused about, Conan-kun? Maybe we can help."

 _I doubt it…_ Conan thought dryly, before wondering how he could put his question into words. He guessed the crux of his confusion came from the relationship between Kaito and KID, so he decided to start with that. "Well, what does it mean when someone who usually doesn't smell like perfume has on perfume, and then another person who also usually doesn't smell like perfume smells the same?"

For some odd reason, the other two inhabitants of the table gave the boy a strange look before Ran tried to clarify his inquiry, although she sounded a little strained, "Conan-kun, is this perfume common? Have you smelled anyone else with it before?"

Conan frowned as he tried to remember if he had. "No. Those were the only two times I smelled it." He lied. Well, it was kind of true. It didn't count after the heist.

"When?" Kogoro asked, surprising Conan with the uncharacteristic curiosity. The boy frowned, but continued. Maybe this man could give surprise insight like he did the other day.

"Once at night on one person, and the other person on a different night."

"Co-conan-kun." Ran stammered, blushing for some reason, as Kogoro grinned at him, "Don't worry about that. Maybe they were friends and went to the same department store together to try the same perfume! Haha…"

"I somehow doubt that…" Conan replied, frowning. "They won't tell me their relationship, and I didn't see either of them on the same night when I smelled the perfume. Besides, I know at least one of them doesn't seem the type to know much about perfumes."

"Hey brat." Kogoro interrupted, before laughing. "Get to school. You're too young to be thinking about perfumes and what it means when two different people, one of whom doesn't care for perfume, happens to smell the same."

"Wha-?!" Conan yelled, now officially annoyed, before being interrupted by the daughter this time.

"Conan-kun! Dad is right. It's time for you to get to school!" Ran stood up, starting to clean up the table. "And also yes, Conan-kun, don't worry about this perfume mystery. It's not anything bad!"

The boy frowned, but then left the table to get ready for school. He wasn't going to get answers from the Mouris, who seemed to have realized something, so he decided he would ask Haibara once he got to school.

"Kudo-kun…" Haibara, the girl who Conan had depended upon to provide him with the answers to his unanswered question from the morning, gave him a withering look. "Obviously those two people are in a romantic relationship."

Conan frowned, "Huh? That's weird. They're both guys-" he stopped. _Wait, seriously?_

Then he had a brief flashback of a conversation he had with the phantom thief himself last night.

' _What is your relationship with Kaito?'_

' _Oh? How brash of you, Tantei-kun. And here I thought we were having a conversation between gentlemen.'_

"No." Conan whispered in horror. This was a possible avenue but… it sounded incorrect! Yet… he could not ignore the possibility.

Somewhere in Ekoda Kaito sneezed, and Chikage giggled.

-ch 8. Preview

" _Is Kaitou KID gay?" Inspector Nakamori frowned, wondering where that question came from, "I mean my daughter, Aoko, seems to be convinced that he is, but I don't see how that's important."_

" _Aoko?" Conan asked, he hadn't heard of this person before. "Does she know Kaito-niichan?"_

" _Yes. Those two pretty much grew up together." Nakamori answered, still sounding puzzled by this line of questioning. "Why?"_

" _Oh uh... Nothing."_


	8. Losing, and the 5 stages of (Haibara) Ai

Ch 8. Losing, and the five stages of (Haibara) Ai

"Is Kaitou KID gay?" Inspector Nakamori frowned, wondering where that question came from, "I mean my daughter, Aoko, seems to be convinced that he is, but I don't see how that's important."

"Aoko?" Conan asked, he hadn't heard of this person before. "Does she know Kaito-niichan?"

"Yes. Those two pretty much grew up together." Nakamori answered, still sounding puzzled by this line of questioning. "Why?"

"Oh uh... Nothing." Conan laughed nervously. _Really? Childhood friend of Kaito believes KID to be gay… can there be such a convenient coincidence?_

"Don't tell me." Haibara muttered, giving her friend a side-glance. "One of the parties involved in the people you were asking me about this morning was Kaitou KID."

"Yes." Conan replied, sending her an annoyed look. "What did you think I was doing, coming over to Ekoda after school today so I could 'happen' to run into Inspector Nakamori?"

"Well I don't know; I figured maybe you were going down the most probable thread of this new magician friend of yours being the _same person_ as your old magician friend." She replied, rolling her eyes. "Besides, who cares about the thief's sexual orientation? Well perhaps it would disappoint Suzuki-san but-" Haibara stopped, her eyes glinting. "Unless what, you decided you want to court-"

" _No"_ Conan snapped, glaring at her. "If you must _know_ , I'm pursuing _two_ threads. One, the one you just said, but based on what I saw and heard yesterday at the heist, there seems to be a _distinct_ possibility that Kaito and KID are-"

"DAD!"

The two grade schoolers flinched as they heard a highly energetic voice pierce the air. They looked around at the source of the voice and found a high school girl with long hair half skipping, half running over to them. She was holding a bag that looked like it had a rectangular box in it, so they assumed she was bringing food.

Conan looked up at Nakamori, who was addressing the girl with a wave and a smile. "Aoko-san?"

"Yes. That's my daughter." Nakamori replied, smiling fondly. "Let me introduce you. Aoko!"

"Ohh who are these two cuties?" the addressed girl beamed, looking over at Conan and Ai once she got close.

"One of them is Conan Edogawa, Kaito-kun's new friend and the one and only KID killer!" The Inspector introduced proudly, putting his hand of Conan's head, "The other, I haven't got her name yet, but she's a friend of Conan-kun's?"

"Yes!" Conan replied hastily, noticing Haibara's unimpressed look. She had tagged along, but he knew she wouldn't want to be involved more than necessary, non-Black org investigation or not. "Say, have you seen Kaito-niichan?"

"Kaito?" Aoko asked, blinking. "Yes, but he ran straight home today, muttering something about… detectives?" she frowned, rubbing her chin. "Now that I think about it, I wonder what he was talking about? I asked him if he was going to go see our classmate Hakuba-kun today, because he just got back from London, but he said 'No way am I seeing that Hakuba bastard if I can help it!'"

Conan gaped. "Hakuba? As in Saguru Hakuba the high school detective?"

"Yes! He's so cool and handsome and smart!" the girl sighed, "If only Kaito would get along with him."

"Aoko-neechan, if it's okay with you, can you tell us where Kaito-niichan's house is?" Conan asked, looking hopeful. "I want to talk to him about the KID heist we went to last weekend!"

The boy shivered despite himself, when he saw how both the Nakamoris' eyes shone with a special hatred at the mention of the heist. "Of course!" she responded with gusto. "If it helps you get rid of the stupid thief once and for all!"

"Yes, Aoko, take her over to Kaito-kun! They seem to make a good team after all!" Inspector Nakamori added, receiving the bag from her. "Thank you for the food by the way, I'll make sure to eat it."

"Yes father! Take care." Aoko replied, mock saluting the inspector. "Come on now Conan-kun and-?"

"Ai." Haibara responded, not even meeting the older girl's eyes.

"Ai-chan!" Aoko said, not being deterred at all by the cold response. Children could be shy after all.

"Wa-wait! Aoko-neechan, you don't have to take us! We can go on our own!" Conan exclaimed, waving his arms around. "No need to trouble yourself."

"It's okay Conan-kun, Kaito's house is on the way anyway!" the girl assured him, smiling. "Let me just call him to make sure he's actually home. We wouldn't want to go there and end up missing him!" Before Conan could say anything, Aoko whipped out her phone and had it to her ear. With how quick she had made the call, Conan figured she had the boy on speed dial.

"Kaito?"

" _Aoko? What do you want?"_

"I'm here with Conan-kun and his friend, Ai-chan! They came all the way over to Ekoda to see you!"

"… _No"_

"So where are you? Are you home? If not, should I just let them in? Conan-kun is a relative of yours right?"

" _Wait… WHAT?! Why? I mean- NO!"_ On the other end of the line, Kaito was panicking. _What in the holy HELL was Tantei-kun thinking visiting me? And with who?! Ai?! Who the hell was that?!_

" _Crap crap crap crap crap! Shit I wasn't supposed to drop that-"_

"Kaito!" Aoko reprimanded, upset at the rudeness of her friend. "What do you mean no? And where are you anyway? If you're not at home and if I can't let them in, then where should they meet you? Don't let their trip here be wasted!"

" _Seriously Aoko this is a bad time-"_

The girl flinched as she heard a crash and sounds of explosions coming from the other end of the line. "KAITO! Oh my god what are you doing-"

" _Look, have Tan- have Conan-kun and his friend wait at that Dotoor coffee shop at the Ekoda train station. I'll be there within the hour!"_

"Kaito, wai-… _ugh_." Aoko groaned and rolled her eyes as her friend hung up on her. Conan laughed to himself nervously as he noticed how apparently sounds of explosions and breaking things and screaming didn't seem to be too concerning when the other end of the line was Kaito. Although he couldn't hear the entire conversation, he had been able to catch the chaos. "I'm sorry, children…" Aoko sighed, looking disappointed. "Seems the idiot is in a bit of a bind right now, so he said he will meet you at the café at the train station within this hour." The girl shook her head as if to further show her regret at not being able to give the two kids what they wanted right away. "Let me take you there at least. It's only a few minutes walk."

"Is no one else at Kaito-niichan's house?" Conan asked, shamelessly persistent. "Like his mother?"

"No." Aoko replied, waving her hand. "Kaito's mother is overseas, and she hasn't been back in Japan for a while." She sighed, "She's nice and all, but she is a bit…of a free spirit. Kind of like Kaito."

"Oh, okay." Conan responded in mock disappointment, "In that case, we can go to the café on our own- OW" Conan flinched, as Haibara kicked him lightly for trying to refuse the girl's hospitality again.

"Thank you onee-san. Sorry my friend here is so rude." She then walked over to the surprised Aoko and took her hand, while simultaneously looking behind her to give her companion a cold stare.

"Ugh Haibara you jerk…" Sighing in defeat, the little boy tottered over to go beside her and Aoko to be taken to the café.

Aoko watched the exchange with a small smile. _So cute! They kind of act like Kaito and Akako-san!_

As the three approached the area around the train station to get to the appointed café, they encountered a pretty girl that seemed to be Aoko's, and by proxy Kaito's, classmate. "Akako-san! What a coincidence!"

"Nakamori-san." The addressed girl smiled coolly, responding with less than half the enthusiasm Aoko had given her. "What brings you here with-" she cast a lazy glance at the two small charges. For a split second, Conan thought she narrowed her eyes at him, but it was gone so quickly, he hoped it was just part of his imagination. "these children?"

"They're here to see Kaito, so I'm taking them to the café where they will meet up! Kaito's being stupid and won't be there for a few minutes though, so I'm being the chaperone!" Aoko replied, seemingly unaffected by the cool attitude of her classmate. Actually, it seemed nothing could affect this girl's positive energy.

"And who, pray tell, are these children?"

"This is Ai-chan and Conan-kun! Conan-kun is that stupid thief KID's biggest enemy, and is a friend of Kaito's!"

"Oh?" Akako responded, arching an eyebrow, "an enemy of the phantom thief but a friend of Kuroba-kun's?" she narrowed her eyes at the now nervous looking boy, practically hissing out her next word. "Interesting."

' _She knows.'_ Conan whispered from the side of his mouth at Haibara, who was giving him a weird look. _'she knows his secret, and she's MAD at me.'_

Haibara rolled her eyes. She wondered if her eyes would roll out of her head by the time they were done with this escapade. _'So what? It's not like she's going to curse you or anything.'_

Aoko broke the tension as she giggled, seeing the way Conan and Ai were interacting again. "Oh, Akako-san. These two are sooo much like you and Kaito."

Conan's eyes widened at this, whispering furiously at Ai again, _'Do you think she's an accompl-'_

The girl, in response, answered him with a glare, and then looked away with a huff and crossed arms. "I don't care." And then added on in a lower voice, _'and I am NOT your accomplice'_

"I doubt it." Akako answered in a condescending huff. "Kuroba-kun and I have a… rather unique relationship." She said, flipping her hair. "One between two children such as them would not understand."

"I guess not." Aoko responded, not seeming to be disturbed at all by her classmate's strange statement. "Seeing as Kaito is kind of rude to you sometimes, it won't do if Conan-kun is like that to Ai-chan too!" She then gave the little boy a look.

"That Kaito jerk calls her things like, 'scary', and 'witch', and claims he's almost gotten 'cursed to death' by her!" Aoko shook her head in disgust, "He's usually so nice to pretty girls too… Conan-kun. Don't end up like him."

Conan gaped, then turned to Ai, "Actually those all-"

"Shut it." Ai snapped. "Before I really do put an end to your miserable, twisted life."

Seeing how the dramatic flair in her cryptic lines were being wasted on a childish girl and two children, Akako decided to excuse herself. Despite the bad vibes the two children were giving her, especially the boy, she had better things to do than entertain them. "Well I must take my leave now Nakamori-san. Send my regards to Kuroba-kun."

"Bye Akako-san! See you tomorrow!" Not seeming to mind the other girl's rather abrupt excusal, Aoko then turned to her two charges. "Well, we better get to that café! It is getting kinda chilly staying outside all this time!"

"We can go by-" Conan stopped, and then sighed. "Thank you, Aoko-neechan."

The three finally entered the warm coffee shop, and seated themselves in a corner.

As they sipped on their hot drinks and snacked on cakes, Conan finally managed to slip out an awkward question to supplement his barely started investigation.

"Say, Aoko-neechan."

"Hmm?"

"Inspector Nakamori said that you think Kaitou KID is gay. Why is that?"

"Oh, he totally is!" Aoko exclaimed, slapping her hands on her cheeks and leaning forwards, "No straight man would scream 'kyaaa!' like that!" She then laughed hysterically as she remembered that moment of terror expressed by her self-proclaimed enemy.

"Wait, _that_ 's the reason you think he's gay?" Conan asked, a little disappointed, before something else about that statement caught his attention. "Did that KID seem, _different_ from usual?" Maybe this one was a woman; in that case, that meant KID potentially had a woman double, which meant he had a capable double, which meant-

"Yes. Come to think of it, that KID was pretty… oh I don't know." Aoko tilted her head to her side, thinking hard, "Clumsy? I guess. It was weird."

"Oh." Conan responded, disappointed once again. Well, that one was probably a fake then, but it was certainly not the one that had done the heist last night. "By the way, do you know what is the relationship between KID and Kaito-niichan, if any?"

For a moment, Conan thought the girl had not heard him, as she turned silent. Then she turned red in the face before answering in a low voice. " _No_ relation whatsoever, from what I know." She frowned, "He idolizes that stupid thief, and to be honest, I… My dad and I _both_ thought Kaito might even _be_ him at one point or another, but he's been with us to several heists so." She sighed, anger still seeming to be left in her system. "No."

"Um…" Conan wasn't done with the questions yet though, he needed to check this just in case. "Does Kaito-niichan wear perfume?"

" _Ugh_ no?" Aoko made a face, shocked at the completely unexpected question. "Never in my life have I seen him show any interest in perfume or colognes."

"How about his mother?" Conan asked, just in case. Even if Aoko didn't know if the Kuroba mother was in the country, there was a distinct possibility she had come back in secret. He just needed to establish some sort of connection.

"I don't think so…" Aoko responded, looking like she was trying hard to remember something. "I do remember she said she liked some scent that reminded her of her 'first kiss' with her husband, but I don't remember what it was. Honestly, I don't really know."

As Conan finished his fruitless line of questioning, the long awaited for teenager finally arrived at their table. He looked slightly singed and a little harried, but seemed to have managed to stay in one piece. "Hey sorry to keep you waiting. And thanks for waiting with them Aoko, you didn't have to do that."

"And keep two little children sitting here by themselves all alone in a town they don't know? Kaito, I know this is Japan and it's relatively safe, but that's still pretty mean." Aoko huffed, crossing her arms disapprovingly. "Anyway, you've made them wait long enough. I have to leave in a few minutes anyway so it's good you finally made it here."

"Really, thanks." Kaito responded, although he rolled his eyes at the mini-lecture. _Freaking criminals are the ones that need to watch their back with Tantei-kun biting at their heels._ He then cast a slightly annoyed gaze over at the boy in question, who had pretty much forced an audience with him. _And oh… my god that girl…_ Kaito thought tiredly as he caught sight of mini _Sherry? Was that her code name?_ He had his work cut out for him.

Kaito frowned as he saw something strange, and before he could stop himself, he had blurted out, "Conan-kun, what are you drinking?"

"I got them both hot cocoa you dolt." Aoko replied for him, squinting at her friend. "They're both little children. What, did you expect me to get him black coffee?"

"Yes-" Kaito froze, wondering if he was privy to that information yet. No. No. He was not. _Shit_. "-didn't you know all the young children drink black coffee nowadays?" he turned his mistake into a sarcastic answer at the very last second. "Not like us old-uns that need the cream and sugar."

"Oh you're impossible." Aoko sighed. "I do you a favor, two small children come all the way over here to talk to your crazy butt, and all you do is give _sass_. Why don't you grow up?"

"Sorry Aoko. I'm just having a really bad day." Kaito sighed, pretending to look defeated. "Hakuba's back, an experiment goes bad, I see Koizumi on the way here, the whole shebang." He put his hands together as if to plead forgiveness. "Really, Aoko, I am really thankful for this. I'll make this up to you, promise."

"You better." Aoko narrowed her eyes, before blinking. "Wait, you saw Akako-san?"

"Yes. Unfortunately."

"Don't be like that, Kaito." The girl frowned. "Besides, we saw her on the way here too!"

"Wait, really?" Kaito exclaimed, a look of genuine fear flashing over his face as he looked over to the two children seated at the table. "She didn't do anything weird to you two did she?"

"Kaito! You're so rude about her! No she did _not_ do anything." Aoko huffed, crossing her arms. "Now I have to go now, so you be an _adult_ and hear out what those two have to say. _Got it_?"

"Yes madam!" Kaito said, straightening up and finally seating himself at the table. Looking over his shoulder to make sure that his childhood friend had gotten herself out of the store, he then moved his gaze over to the aforementioned two children.

"So." He saw Conan giving him an awkward look while Sherry looked like she didn't give two hoots about being there. "What brings you two all the way here on this lovely afternoon?" He so wanted to openly glare at this conniving little bastard, but 'Kaito' had to treat the boy like 'Conan', a 7 year old, and not Shinichi Kudo like he knew he was. Like they both knew he was. Hell, like ALL 3 of the people there knew he was.

"Kaito-niichan." Conan sighed, deciding he should just get this over with. He knew asking outright would start in denial, but the reaction would be valuable. "Are you and Kaitou KID in a relationship?"

"Oh not this again. I don't kno-" Kaito paused. Wait, this was _not_ the same question as the one yesterday. "Wait… come again?"

"Are you and KID in a relationship?"

"Wait" Kaito put out a hand to block out the view of the crazy detective's face for a moment to get his mind straightened out. Yes. He was having a bad day so he must have been hearing things. "What kind of relationship are you suggesting?"

"He's asking" Ai cut in with her bell-like voice, "if you and the magician under the moonlight are in a romantic relationship."

Kaito slapped both his hands over his face and groaned. _"What"_ he paused, "possessed your brilliant little mind to come up with _that_ hypothesis, Tantei-kun?"

"Your handkerchief right before the heist targeting 'Abyss' yesterday." Conan wasted no time in beginning his attack, now that he had been given an opening. "It smelled of the same perfume KID had on the night of the heist of that white jewel, 'Heaven'."

"Perfume?" Kaito frowned. _Drats. Was that why Tantei-kun was giving me that freaky look yesterday when I took out my handkerchief yesterday? But really? Did I seriously fail to get that all off before the 'Heaven' heist?_ "You mean the same one that was used throughout the entire heist yesterday?" _Crap! Why didn't I notice that? Mom you are seriously going to be the end of me..._

"Yes and as you know, it was a fairly unique scent." Conan added on, but not letting the other boy off from answering his inquiry. "So what is the reason KID and you would have the same perfume on, on different evenings? And to clarify, this was before the heist started." Conan narrowed his eyes. "And don't tell me you're a perfume aficionado. Haibara here will figure you out if you aren't. And before you say you just bought it, this scent had already been discontinued."

Kaito had to admit. He was trapped. He assumed the detective didn't actually _know_ which perfume that heist had been scented with, but exposing that bluff still wouldn't let Kaito off the hook.

How was he going to explain the perfume? He couldn't even say the truth, which was that his mom had sprayed it all over him, because that would let Conan know that his mom may have a connection to KID. Then the detective would remember that KID's mother was _the_ Phantom Lady and then put two and two together… and then, _busted_.

"Look." Kaito sighed, "it's not what it looks like." He finished lamely. Was he, the great Kaitou KID, going to be taken down by a _handkerchief_ and _perfume_?

"It's okay, Kuroba-san. We won't tell anyone about your relationship." Haibara spoke up, making Kaito's eyes widen in confusion.

 _Wait… where was this conversation going again?_ Kaito had been so shocked at the realization that he had been proverbially checkmated, that he had lost sight of the strange connotation Tantei-kun had been making about the perfume and-

"No" Kaito whispered in horror. Was _that_ the conclusion Tantei-kun had reached? Was _that_ why-?

"No!" Kaito spluttered, going bright red as he jumped up in anger and embarrassment. "You, you have _got_ to be kidding me!" He then hastily sat down as the other patrons of the café gave him dirty looks. The teen then covered his face again, muttering. "Why is this happening to me?" _But of course_. He thought grimly. Kaito himself had made sure to create an alibi with a too-skilled-to-be-fake KID so Tantei-kun would not doubt his innocence. The detective was no Aoko after all, and could not be fooled by dummies or a disguised Akako.

His face burned as he then remembered his mother's rather, _suggestive_ , remarks as KID last night, and groaned again. _What should I do? What should I DO?_

The boy then, ironically, vaguely wondered what Tantei-kun would spout if he were cornered like this. He blinked, remembering what Conan had done to grasp at straws when the boy had lost that exchange between them when they had first tried to part ways in front of that café under the Mouri Detective Agency. _Right. Keep things simple._

"No, really. It's not what it looks like." Kaito repeated faintly. "KID finds me an easy person to disguise as, and he sometimes swipes my stuff as temporary props." He rubbed his temples as if he were annoyed by this fact. "He probably borrowed my handkerchief sometime before the heist, and that's how the scent got on. KID _did_ use that perfume pretty liberally for the show that night after all, so it wouldn't be strange if some had gotten on whatever he had borrowed from me."

"Oh." Conan replied, blinking. "Then… you and KID really aren't?"

" _No_ " Kaito glared at the boy in a rare moment of sincerity. "And about our _relationship_ as you seem to be so convinced we have, KID likes to use me as a disguise _a lot_. That's all there is to it."

"Do you honestly think we'll believe that flimsy lie?" Haibara's clear voice sliced through Kaito's heart as the girl flashed both of the two boys a look. Then she smiled conspiratorially, "It's okay if you have an uh… relationship. We won't tell anyone." She then slid her eyes towards Conan, as if daring him to disagree. "Really."

The addressed mini detective had gone silent, scowling as he shifted his eyesight downwards, thinking about something.

Kaito, in turn, blinked at the second part of the girl's statement. The content being so shocking that he momentarily forgot that she had refused to believe his denial of being romantically involved with his own alter ego. "Wait… you both wouldn't?" he then looked quizzically over at the still silent detective. " _You,_ oh great detective, _wouldn't_?"

Looking thoroughly conflicted, Conan finally looked up. He opened his mouth as if to say something and then closed it. He then blinked a couple times while a troubled look adorned his features. "If… well…" finding his voice, Conan coughed, before starting again. "Sure, I mean, I won't tell on your relationship because I'm sure that would be hard on you, being close with the Nakamoris and all." The boy's eyes seemed to harden though, after his first statement. "But, you should really tell your… partner to stop committing crimes and turn himself in."

Conan, in actuality, was reeling on the inside. In truth, the 'Kaito and KID being lovers' possibility had only been something he had been investigating while he tried to gain more information for the more _likely_ possibility that Kaito had someone skilled enough close to him who could fill in as KID. Specifically, Conan had been eyeing the possibility of the mother, as KID had insinuated her being the Phantom Lady and all, but the teen had admitted to the former.

Granted, Kaito could be lying, but really? Would he go this far?

"Hm." Kaito responded lamely, a wave of disappointment washing over him. Of course he hadn't expected his… almost friend of sorts to be willing to let him completely off the hook, but this goody-two-shoes _boring_ response was somewhat depressing. Kaito had expected the detective to at least try and trick him into meeting KID so that he could capture the thief.

"Ugh, you sound like your girlfriend." He muttered, not really caring how that statement would be misunderstood. He knew the real Shinichi was not privy to the information that Ran had made the exact same suggestion to him when she had 'found out' that KID was supposedly her childhood friend.

He guessed, growing up together and all, it would only make sense Ran and Shinichi would have similar responses as to how KID should handle himself, but he had thought Tantei-kun would be a little different. Especially since the insane twerp didn't seem to be all too law-abiding either. Kaito wasn't sure how many laws he had seen the guy take liberties with. They just weren't as flashy and blatant as KID stunts were, but they were probably more frequent.

Misunderstanding the comment, Conan gave him an annoyed look but chose not to respond. Ai, on the other hand, sighed in disappointment. "You know, I said we didn't believe you in jest, but to think it was true…"

Kaito was about to protest weakly again, before he stopped himself. Well, this kind of _was_ convenient wasn't it? His reputation towards two _little kids_ were at stake, and no others, if he were to believe those fake 'children' would keep his fake 'secret'. And if he kept denying it, the possibility of the actual truth being found out would become larger, which only spelled more trouble for him.

Maybe he should just accept this misunderstanding. Perhaps it was karma. Or perhaps it was some twisted form of great luck coming attached with terrible conditions. It seemed he was having a lot of those when concerning things that had Tantei-kun's nose in it. Kaito sighed deeply, knowing he would regret this one comment but knowing this was the best choice for now. "No… further comment."

-ch 9. Preview

" _This… has got to be a nightmare." Kaito groaned, opening up his eyes blearily, only to find himself looking at cold, concrete walls in a small room that he seemed to be trapped in. He looked around to see the little detective beside him, also seeming to have been captured. Kaito_ _ **really**_ _needed to stop spending time with Tantei-kun; the brand of trouble the boy attracted was a deadlier genre than what the magician was used to handling daily. Come to think of it, wasn't the boy around too the last time Kaito had encountered an event that ended up in him waking up in an unfamiliar place?_

" _No. You're awake. This is reality." Conan muttered darkly next to him._

 _Kaito sighed, "The realist as always, aren't you, Tantei-kun?"_

" _As you like to refer to me as such, I_ _ **am**_ _a detective."_


	9. Missing

Thank you very much for the reviews. I read them all many times and I sometimes take them into consideration when writing the story.

I admit I struggled with this chapter. Sometimes the characters just don't let the story progress the way I want. I don't understand smart people since I'm no genius myself, but I try to keep these two in character. Thank you for bearing with me, and hopefully the next chapter will not disappoint.

000

Ch 9. Missing

"This… has got to be a nightmare." Kaito groaned, opening up his eyes blearily, only to find himself looking at cold, concrete walls in a small room that he seemed to be trapped in. He looked around to see the little detective beside him, also seeming to have been captured. Kaito _really_ needed to stop spending time with Tantei-kun; the brand of trouble the boy attracted was a deadlier genre than what the magician was used to handling daily. Come to think of it, wasn't the boy around too the last time Kaito had encountered an event that ended up in him waking up in an unfamiliar place?

"No. You're awake. This is reality." Conan muttered darkly next to him.

Kaito sighed, "The realist as always, aren't you, Tantei-kun?"

"As you like to refer to me as such, I _am_ a detective." Conan sighed, "Although I do understand the sentiment of wishing terrible realities to be nightmares instead."

"Anyway, do you have any idea what's going on, Meitantei?" Kaito grumbled, examining his hands again. _Good. They're fine._ For some odd reason, neither he nor the detective was tied up in any way. They were just placed in some strange, dark room. There was one dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling lighting up the place, but there were no windows or doors. Kaito knew there must be some way out, since he and the detective had to have been placed here through _somewhere_. Also, they could breathe, which meant there was ventilation.

Conan gave him a weird look, before shaking his head. "I woke up a few moments before you did, so no. By the way" he paused, "you've called me that twice now. Why?"

"Eh? Meitantei? That's three times now." Kaito responded, blinking. "Because I think you're a great detective. Is that so strange?"

"Actually… Yes." The boy said, giving him the side-eye. "Unless you're humoring me just because I'm a child." _Plus, for some odd reason it gives me a weird sense of déjà vu when you say it._ Conan added on internally. True to Kaito's point, it was only his third time referring to him directly as such, so that déjà vu feeling was out of place.

"Don't you have better things to do than questioning my praise for you?" Kaito rolled his eyes, before pulling himself up into a standing position. The teen then started carefully examining the walls, looking for the way out.

Conan, on the other hand, also started examining the room. However, he was looking for clues as to who had trapped them there and for what purpose. "Hey Kaito-niichan, do you remember what happened to us before we were trapped here?"

"Well all I remember is accompanying you and the little lady back to Beika, and after we dropped her off at her home, I was walking with you, and then somewhere along the way you saw something." Kaito frowned. Yes, he definitely needed to stop associating personally with this twerp. He didn't have enough lives to survive the combined chaos of his own life and the detective's put together. "You ran off, so I went with you. After that is fuzzy, so I think I was knocked out then, and then brought here. I remember seeing you still running in front of me when I lost consciousness, so they probably got you after me." He then gingerly touched his head to check for new injuries, just in case even though he didn't feel any pain. "They probably used sleeping gas. I can smell the residue on my collar. Plus, I don't feel any new injuries on my head."

Kaito then raised his eyebrows as he noticed something in the corner. The wall texture felt slightly different, and when he put his ear against that area, the sound was a little different as well. He grinned. _Bingo._ "How about you? Do you remember anything? Who were you chasing anyway?"

Conan seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering. "I remember about the same as you, up to the part where I was knocked out. I think I was taken right after you, because I don't remember you being taken down." The boy kept looking for clues as he talked, "And to be honest, I was tailing the guys I was going after on that day when I first found you lying in that alleyway a few weeks ago. They were different than the ones that carried out the attack on you before, so I assumed they may be their employers."

The teen paused in his investigation as he turned to give his companion a disapproving look. "…you are seriously _so_ _stupid_." He ended the statement with gritted teeth. Well, it seemed at least he found a way to get out of this room. "Okay, now let's get-"

"Wait, Kaito-niichan, one moment." Conan piped up. He was crouched down on the ground and was skimming his small fingers over it as if feeling for something. "There's a message engraved in the ground. Do you have anything to fill it in with?"

"No, but." Kaito looked up at the hanging light bulb. "We can make that visible. Come over here, buddy."

Following Kaito's field of vision and understanding what was required of him, the little boy hurried over to the other. Kaito crouched down to let Conan on his shoulders, and handed him a handkerchief. "You know what to do, but use that handkerchief to keep your hands safe from the heat."

"Oh, thanks." Conan replied, taking the piece of cloth. Reaching over to the light bulb that was now right in front of him, Conan tilted the bulb in order to make shadows form in the ground so the message would be visible. Or at least, it should be visible to the teen under him. Unfortunately, Conan's vision was a little compromised by the bulb right in front of him. "Kaito-niichan, what does it say? I can't see it because I'm right by the light."

"It just says 'three'. The number written out in letters. 't-h-r-e-e'." Kaito read out the simple message to him, clarifying it best he could. The only thing he could think of from that word was how he himself always started with that phrase when counting down before the execution of a trick. "Does that mean anything to you, Tantei-kun?"

"No." Conan replied, hopping down from the other boy's shoulders. "Was that it?"

"If you've found nothing else, then yes."

"I see. I can figure out the meaning of that later." Then Conan cast an annoyed look about the room. "Now we just need to find a way out." The boy then raised his eyebrows as his companion grinned at that statement. "What, have you found one?"

"Yes sir!" Kaito exclaimed proudly, before touching and pushing a few sections in the wall of one of the corners of the room; causing part of the wall to slide open and revealing a hallway.

"Nice" Conan whispered, and the two shared a smile before they both carefully stuck their heads out to survey the area. Kaito was quicker to sweep the area with his eyes than his companion, and then he also focused on the sounds in the building in order to detect any other life. Hearing nothing, he motioned to the wary looking detective to follow him as they approached a window. It seemed they were in an abandoned house. By the looks of it, the sky was already orange and approaching dark.

Kaito then made a quick visual sweep of the outside grounds. It seemed like he and Conan were just captured and abandoned here, left to rot. He frowned. Unless their capturers knew they would be able to escape? He shook his head. This was no time to be thinking about the details. He had to take the little detective and get themselves out of this creepy place.

"Come here." Kaito gestured, "I'll get us out of here, but I'll have to carry you. Come on."

"Fine." Conan whispered, still looking around warily, before running over to his companion to be picked up. Sometimes he wondered if it was a good thing he was shrunken, or if it were a hindrance. Either way, he was glad to be little now. Being manhandled like this would have been both uncomfortable and difficult as his real size.

"Hold tight." Kaito then hooked a rope on the side of the window before jumping out gracefully and quickly making it down to the ground. He then gave the rope a tug and retrieved it immediately, making Conan furrow his brows at the mechanics of it. However, before he got much time to mull over it, he felt himself flying across the property surrounding the abandoned building, getting closer to the gates that led out. Kaito still hadn't let go of him, presumably so Conan's short legs wouldn't slow them down. The detective marveled at the smoothness and the speed at which his companion ran. There was something strange though.

 _He's running so quickly on such uneven ground during twilight, yet_ _his movements…_ Conan raised his eyebrows in surprise, _produce no noise_.

Yes. Despite the circumstances, the level of stealth and level-headedness this teenager was displaying was absolutely out of the ordinary.

Once they approached the gates, Conan was once again blown away at the smoothness and the incredible dexterity his companion displayed as he quickly performed a series of checks, which Conan understood only about half of, in a manner of a few seconds before finding the best escape route out of the property. He then turned his gaze over to the teen's face, feeling very much conflicted and a little… sad? _Are you really not…?_ Conan had to admit, there was a strange part of him hoping that he had been wrong in his earlier conclusion that Kaito and KID were different people. But he had no _proof_. If Kaito himself was really-

"What are you thinking?" Conan was disrupted out of his thoughts as the target of his musings shot him a question along with an annoyed look. "The way you're staring is distracting me. Is there something on my face? Or is there something you want to tell me?"

"I…" Conan started, but then decided against it. Questioning Kaito's identity in the middle of escaping some shady establishment was not the right time. "Never mind, I'll ask you later."

Hopping out into the street with Conan in tow, he finally placed the other boy down on the ground next to him. Without saying a word, the two looked at each other and in silent agreement they started their way down the street at a quick pace.

As he followed the taller boy, Conan strained his ears and kept a lookout for any telltale signs of being followed. He didn't hear anything or see anything that suggested that, but he was still nervous. Strangely enough, the teen next to him looked anything but concerned. Granted Kaito was walking quickly, but at a pace that Conan could keep up with, and otherwise looked completely calm.

That was another thing Conan had found strange about his companion. He was clearly very intelligent, and as his actions demonstrated moments ago implied, he was used to being in situations of matters between life and death. Therefore, Conan could deduce this boy's current 'nonchalance' was completely fake. Yet, even to Conan's sharp eyes, the attitude _looked_ absolutely genuine; clearly this teen was an incredible actor.

The detective had to admit, he would not have noticed this teen's current attitude of indifference and calmness to be an act if he wasn't in the know of their current situation, as well as wasn't aware of how intelligent Kaito was. He frowned. Conan only knew _this time_ because he was in on _this_ secret. The secret of their situation and their recent attack. He wondered, briefly, how much of his past interactions with Kaito had been met with the 'real' reactions of the other boy.

Conan sighed, knowing he had no right to be feeling a little put out by realizing he may have been played by the boy next to him this entire time, considering Conan himself was not exactly forthcoming with his secrets either. However, if only he had proof that could convince himself Kaito _was_ really KI-

"Tantei-kun." A voice interrupted Conan's thoughts. Kaito continued talking once he noticed he had the detective's attention. "Why do you think we were knocked out and taken to an abandoned building, where there were no guards and nothing restraining us?" the teen frowned, looking confused. "I don't see a purpose in that. Do you have a theory at all?"

"Why-" _do you keep treating me like a real detective?_

"am I asking you, a kid?" Kaito gave him an annoyed look. "Don't give me that again, Conan-kun. I already told you. I think you're a great detective."

Conan blinked. Yes, this was another characteristic of the other boy that had led Conan to initially suspect that he had known Kaito longer than they were both pretending to. His strange trust in a little boy's intelligence and ability to deduce.

"We were trapped in a room with no visible way out." Conan finally replied, pointing out something he thought would seem obvious. "There was no reason to keep us restrained or to keep watch; most people would never be able to get out on their own."

"They left us a message." Kaito retorted. "A message that made no sense."

"Yes perhaps it was a message meant for someone else." Conan mused, frowning. "Or it is an incomplete message. Either way, the people who put us there are dangerous. If we hadn't escaped on our own, we may been trapped there until who knows when."

"Didn't you say they were the same people that were around when you saw me attacked, being mistaken as your relative?" Kaito prompted, getting an idea, "Maybe they dropped us in that weird room to test if-" his eyes widened as he realized the implication.

Conan looked up at him at the same time "If you could get out of that room." Conan finished. "Oh my god."

"Right, because they must have figured that KID or Kudo would be able to figure out the trick of that room, but if it were any other random kid they may not…" Kaito trailed off, looking thoughtful. "Then they must have took you too because you were with me?"

"But that's strange, Kaito-niichan." Conan frowned, disturbed by this next thought he was about to express. "They should have figured out from the last time you were attacked, that you were not, in fact, Shinichi Kudo."

Kaito paused at that strange assumption. "Why do you say that?"

Conan looked innocently back at the other boy. "Well, hospital records should have showed it wasn't you. Besides, if Shinichi-niichan had been attacked, it would have been all over the news." Conan paused at his own statement. _Come to think of it, why wasn't the story of the attack in the papers at all? Even if it's not a well-known victim, it's not every day a random kid gets attacked in an alleyway and gets knocked out._

"Tantei-kun, as smart as you are, I guess there are some things you still don't know." Kaito sighed, "Hospital records are not public, so no one other than the hospital personnel, my immediate family, and the police can gain access to my personal information. And besides, I only had minor injuries. It won't make for an interesting story." He continued. "Unless, tantei-kun, you are suggesting that the crazy conspirators after me could somehow get a hold of that confidential information. Even then, if they suspect Shinichi Kudo to be living a double life, they could suspect he is living a double life as me, crazy as they seem to be."

"I guess they wouldn't be able to." Conan had to agree outwardly, before inwardly disagreeing. If it were the black org, they undoubtedly would be able to get that information somehow. However, if the black org were involved, they would have no reason to think Shinichi Kudo was alive, since they had deemed him dead ages ago. So whoever was after him or KID, was a different group of people.

 _Although… can't gain access is right._ Conan thought to himself. He had tried and failed to get information on the teen right after he had been taken in by the hospital, but the security around this guy's information was tight. The guy not only didn't have any identifiable IDs on him, the guy had successfully seen through Takagi's bluff and seemed to have told the hospital personnel that he had no immediate family members in the country.

If Conan himself hadn't been Shinichi, he would think it was himself that was in the hospital trying to stay out of the public eye. Although he was itching to ask him about the hospital incident, he figured he could dig into that later. For now, there were more concerning things to address.

"Kaito-niichan." Conan started, afraid of what he was going to suggest, but he had to. "Then do you think their target is Shinichi-niichan?" Considering this Kaito seemed to be a regular audience member at KID heists, and had alibis suggesting he was not KID to any regular observer, then the only reason the attackers would still be after him would be his supposed connection to Shinichi Kudo.

"Maybe." Kaito replied, shrugging. "I have no way to know. Either way, we've escaped their trap so let me drop you off at your home before they make their next move. It seems their target is me for the time being, and I'm afraid they will soon try to come find me again once they notice we've passed their 'test'."

"Kaito-niichan." Conan frowned, feeling a little panicked. "Don't leave me behind! I swear I can help. And are you going to the police with this?"

"Of course I'm going to the police for help. But _after_ I drop you off at the Mouri's." Kaito said firmly, before crouching down so he would be eye-level with the bespectacled boy. "And don't be trying to tag along because you feel guilty or something."

Conan blinked. "What are you-"

"I'm not stupid, Conan-kun." Kaito interrupted him, giving him a sad smile. "You're hiding him, aren't you? Shinichi Kudo is in hiding for some reason, and you're hiding him and trying to protect his friends and family from something too, right?"

Conan gaped. This was slightly off, but how did he? "How did you?"

"Let's just say I'm very observant and you're a terrible actor." Kaito then reached out a hand to ruffle the boy's hair. "Even if there are bad people after me for your Shinichi-niichan's sake, I can take care of myself. It's okay."

Conan blinked at that confident statement. This was true. The amount of skill the other boy had displayed earlier was incredible. He probably really could handle the pursuit of assassins better than the average joe, but that was strange in itself. "Who are you, really?" he blurted out despite himself.

Kaito blinked, before laughing at the familiar question. "Kaito Kuroba, magician extraordinaire, at your service. Who else?" He then patted the mini detective on the head again before standing up to his full height once more. The magician then motioned for the stunned boy to follow him. "Come on, it seems like we aren't that far from Beika. Let's get you to the Mouri's. I'm sure they're worried since you _are_ a little later than they've expected, right?"

Nodding dumbly, Conan followed the other teen in silence while his heart beat frantically. Despite the wrong conclusion Kaito had spouted, his assumption had been _way_ too close for comfort. And what? That declaration of knowledge came out of _nowhere._ Conan was slightly disgusted with himself. He had been so engrossed in figuring out Kaito's secret, and had been so comforted in the teen's apparent lack of interest in Conan's own affairs, that he had been dribbling out hints like crazy to someone who he should have known would be smart enough to figure out something was up.

This was ironic in a way. Conan had always had the advantage of getting people's secrets because everyone underestimated a little boy, but now he himself had gotten upended because he had underestimated a teen that turned out to very clearly not be a regular civilian.

But… there was no way in _hell_ he was going to let someone else bear the risk of getting hurt for his sake; if Kaito left him at the Mouri's in order to bear the danger of being threatened for information about Shinichi's whereabouts alone, then the reason for Conan keeping his identity secret to the boy was gone.

Conan took a deep breath and opened his mouth. This was all or nothing. "Kaito-niichan, to tell you the truth-"

The other boy's hand suddenly covered Conan's mouth. "Tantei-kun. Whatever you were about to say, I have the feeling now is not the right time." Kaito then leaned down to whisper lowly in his ear. "If you haven't noticed, we now have company."

The detective gulped as he saw a flash of an unreadable expression flit across his companion's face as he gave a quick glance about the area. The teen then straightened up to his full height again, expression neutral. Conan didn't resist when one of his hands were taken by the magician, and held tightly. "Come _on_." He stumbled as he was pulled along a little more roughly than usual. It seemed his companion was in a hurry to drop Conan off at the agency so he would be free to be targeted on his own. _No no no no NO!_ He thought frantically, as he felt himself being forced down the road.

"Kaito-niichan! Kaito! _Please_ , you don't understand…" Conan scrambled frantically, trying to convey to the magician the urgent-ness, the _wrong-ness_ of what the other boy was trying to do.

"No." Conan flinched as he heard the older boy uncharacteristically snap. "The one that doesn't understand is _you_. Please stay out of-" Kaito stopped in his reprimanding as he froze in his tracks. Conan yelped as he was grabbed by the other teen, and flinched in surprise at the loud crashing sound that met his ears a moment later. Terrified, he looked around to see what had happened. A heavy, metal toolbox had landed in the spot where he had just been standing moments before. The contents of the toolbox was now scattered across the sidewalk as the container had opened from the shock of impact on the ground. Conan heard faint noises of yelling from above as a construction worker peered down at them worriedly, seeming to be checking for any victims.

"Hey! Are you okay down there?!" a man yelled down at them from his position at the top of the building.

"Yes! But be careful! You could have seriously injured someone!" Conan flinched as he heard his companion yell angrily back at the other man. He himself would have been just as angry too, but hearing a voice so uncannily like his own yelling sounded so- _wait_. Conan froze as that thought crossed his mind. Although Kaito had looked somewhat similar to himself, his tone and his speech mannerisms were so different from Shinichi that Conan hadn't really thought about how their voices were similar too. But hearing the boy yell, the voice was suddenly creepily similar.

The construction worker came down to their level to apologize, explaining that he had kept the toolbox far from the edge of the building so he thinks maybe a bird or a stray cat knocked it down while he wasn't looking. There were no other people on the roof with him. Although Conan wanted to question the man more to figure out this mystery, his companion restrained him from doing so. "Sir, please go to the police to report this incident." As the man got a panicked look in his eyes, Kaito shook his head to cut him off, "I'm not going to sue you on behalf of this kid here. If you look closely, your toolbox has been shot, which probably caused it to fall from the roof. That indicates there is an armed criminal in the area."

After the construction worker left in a hurry to get to his phone to notify the police, Conan saw Kaito glance down at him tiredly. "Well… seems like they are after you now too. What a pain." Conan nodded numbly, not sure if he should be glad or terrified of this fact. At least now Kaito wouldn't be able to chuck him away to keep him locked up at the Mouri's alone. "Seriously, this is so troublesome."

"Troublesome?" Conan asked, scowling despite the situation. From the tactics used, Conan had deduced that his worst fears, that being the Black Organization had the suspicion Shinichi was alive and was hunting KID for info, were not true, but there was no denying these strange attackers were armed and murderous and were hunting Kaito, with the possibility that they thought he was Shinichi. Calling the situation 'troublesome' seemed to be a pretty mild reaction. He then looked over at the other teen in suspicion. _Wait a minute… does that mean he has an idea? Kaito, what are you thinking?_

"Well look who we have here." The detective was jerked out of his thoughts as a familiar voice rang in the air. Conan, still being held by his companion, felt the arms around him tighten a little. Although he couldn't feel Kaito's heartbeat against his back due to the thick clothing, the detective sneaked a feel of his pulse on his wrist, and felt it quicken. This voice was bad news to his friend, which was strange since the owner of the voice should be no enemy.

"Hakuba. What the hell are you doing here?" Conan frowned as he heard his companion give a less than friendly greeting in response to the other detective. He knew the magician didn't like detectives, but this animosity sounded personal.

"As a matter of fact, looking for you." Hakuba responded, sighing tiredly. "I would like to ask you the same thing. I came looking for you in Beika because I heard you were attending some children here, and yet, you were not around either of the homes of the two children you were supposed to be attending. Not only that, one of them, Edogawa-kun here, was not home yet. I was still looking for you when I ran into both of you."

"Why were you looking for me anyway? Don't you have better things to do in your free time?" Kaito muttered, giving his classmate an annoyed look. Conan once again marveled at the air of casual irritation the boy could project, given the unnatural nervousness his pulse was indicating. "You're not getting anything from me." Conan blinked. _That's an odd declaration. I wonder what that means?_

"I heard from inside police sources that your life was targeted recently." Hakuba replied, now twisting his own handsome face into that which showed annoyance. "And not only that, Edogawa-kun here" Conan inwardly jumped at being addressed, "seems to have taken an unusual interest in your person."

"Why does that matter to you?" Kaito responded quickly. Conan could tell he clearly wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible so they could leave. "I was mistaken for somebody else, and Conan-kun was the person that saved me from that attack, so that's how we got to know each other." The teen then finally placed the mini detective on the ground, and then firmly took hold of one of his small hands. "If there is nothing else, can you let us go? I need to get kiddy here back to the Mouri Agency. We are late as it is."

"Ah yes, late." Hakuba cut back, his voice sharp and his eyes narrowed and glinting. "Why is that, I wonder?"

"Who car-"

"And don't bother going to the Mouri Agency right now. No one is around." Hakuba said smoothly, "It seems they received a threat today while you were taking a small detour bringing Edogawa-kun back home, and now they are under police custody. The agency is empty save for a few police officers keeping watch."

Conan paled at the news. "Hakuba-niichan!" he blurted out, joining into their conversation for the first time. "What kind of threat? Are Ran-neechan and the old man okay?"

"Yes. Those two are safe and under police custody. They are just very worried about your well-being." Hakuba answered sympathetically. "It seems both yours and Kuroba-kun's phones were turned off so we could not track you." He gave his classmate a disapproving look at the inconvenience that had caused. "Let me call the police now to let them know I've found you two safe and sound, and that I will be taking you two to the station."

"Hakuba." Kaito started after his classmate had finished the call. "Sorry about yelling at you earlier. I had no idea. But," he continued before the other detective could make some snarky comment over his uncharacteristic apology, "could you tell us the nature of the threat made on the Mouri Agency?"

The teen detective gave his classmate a hard, silent look before explaining. "It was a really strange one. There was a bomb within a package sent to them, and the message attached to it simply read 'two'." He said, frowning. "The Mouris found the package to be suspicious and reported it to the police, and fortunately the bomb didn't seem to be the sensitive type. It was a real bomb, but you would have had to deliberately set if off yourself to make it explode."

"Two?" Conan muttered. This after the 'three' found in the room he and Kaito were trapped in earlier. _Is this some sort of count down? But what does this mean? It would make more sense if-_

"Do you know anything about this, Kuroba-kun?" Hakuba asked, narrowing his eyes at his classmate suspiciously. "Do you know about a 'three' perhaps met during your little _detour_ today, or a 'one' somewhere?"

Conan looked up at the other detective in surprise. How had he figured out from the lone 'two' that the number was part of a countdown? And the strange attitude of Kaito, which suggested the boy knew more about the attackers than he was letting on. Was Hakuba in the know too? _What am I missing?_

"No." Kaito lied, again surprising Conan. For all Conan knew, there was no reason to lie to this detective. "If you are done jabbering in the middle of the street, can you take us to the police station so kiddy here and the Mouris can be reunited?"

"Sure thing Kuroba-kun, but you are not getting out of explaining to me why you were delayed in getting Conan-kun back home." Hakuba replied, not sounding completely convinced, before smiling apologetically at Conan. "But for now, as per your request I will take you to the station. Follow me you two."

As the three started walking, to Kaito's chagrin Hakuba continued to converse. "By the way Kuroba-kun, thank you very much for your intel on Chat Noir the other day. As per your suggestion, the thief that had declared the heist that day was found to be a fake."

"Oh, good for you." Kaito mumbled back, not speaking more than necessary. _Ah, so it was him who was calling from overseas the other day._ Conan pondered. Kaito really didn't seem to like the detective. He couldn't see why though. Hakuba could be somewhat of a prick, but he was overall a decent person.

"Speaking of Chat Noir, it seems the last KID heist had a sort of French theme to it." Hakuba continued, earning a confused look from both Kaito and Conan. "The perfume, Kuroba-kun. Don't tell me you don't know what it was?"

"How would I know? I was at the heist with Conan-kun that day, but I couldn't tell what kind of perfume it was from the scent itself. I'm not into that stuff at all." Kaito responded, sounding genuinely confused as to where this was going. Even if Hakuba had figured out the name of the scent, he didn't really see why that would matter.

"Midnight in Paris" the detective stated matter of factly. "That's the name of the scent. Fittingly, it was produced by some jewelry company." He then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I had thought KID had chosen that scent on purpose, considering his first ever recorded appearance was, in fact, in the middle of the night in Paris, but I guess I was wrong." He then raised an eyebrow at the magician, "Was that a real KID heist?"

"Yes it was." Kaito responded defiantly. "Inspector Nakamori said the note was real. Besides, the quality of the heist was KID-like, and the thief himself was very skilled. No fake could have pulled that off." He then turned his head to look down at Conan as if to look for agreement, only to be met with a strange look.

The small boy hesitated, before nodding with a weak smile. "Yes, it was." He then turned to look at Hakuba, "It was a real KID heist, Hakuba-niichan."

On the inside, Conan was panicking and trying his best to keep himself from physically shaking. That unexpected bit of information that Hakuba had provided about the perfume had suddenly made everything fall into place.

The perfume and Kaito's mother and Phantom Lady and KID had _connected._ That bit of information from Hakuba, plus, unbeknownst to Kaito, the information provided by Aoko about the perfume Kaito's mother liked being one of a memory between her and her husband had been enough.

The original KID's first heist in Paris was the last recorded one of the Phantom Lady's, the current KID's mother. Which also meant the first KID was Kaito's father, Toichi Kuroba, a friend of Shinichi's parents and his mother's disguise teacher.

Which meant there was _no way_ Shinichi's father didn't know, and thus explained the laughter from the other end of the phone line every time he had called his parents to ask about the Kurobas and KID.

The irony was _ridiculous._

From the sounds of the current conversation, Hakuba suspected Kaito to be the real KID, but didn't know the information about Phantom Lady being the current KID's mother. Which meant Hakuba also didn't know for sure that the current one was a different one from the original, and was only thinking so due to circumstantial evidence. Conan, on the other hand, now had enough information.

Feeling a little faint, he jolted as he heard the two talking again. _Right, Kaito… no KID, doesn't know that I know. He doesn't know that I have enough information._ He absentmindedly walked as he let himself be led down the street by the other two teens. _He knows who I am._ Conan thought back to the short time he had spent with the teen beside him as his civilian self. _He knew the entire time._ Conan felt a headache coming at the irony of the past situation as well as the current one. _And now he doesn't know that I know that he knows who I am, and in turn he doesn't know that I know about him._ _Is that supposed to give me the upper hand now?_ Conan let out a heavy sigh, earning him a curious look from his two companions, but the little detective paid them no heed. He wanted to scream.

-ch 10. Preview

 _As Hakuba flagged down a taxi to take them the rest of the way to the station, Conan numbly stumbled into the car first while staring at Kaito, who was also climbing into the car after him. However, the teen in question seemed to be staring at something in the front seat before his eyes widened in surprise. Kaito then turned around and shoved Hakuba out of car before the door slammed shut and the taxi sped off._

 _Conan gaped, "Kaito-niichan what-"_

" _Shh." Kaito shushed him, still looking eerily calm, before turning an icy look towards the front of the car. Conan shuddered. He knew the real KID's face was supposed to look like Shinichi himself, but the level of similarity was really creepy._

" _Kaito Kuroba. As I suspected, you are sharper than you seem." The man who was driving drawled out in a deep voice, "Let's get to the point. Who are you? And what do you know about Kaitou KID and Shinichi Kudo?"_


	10. Final chapter: Revelations

Didn't really realize until halfway through the story how quick my initial updates used to be. These two really put me on a rollercoaster ride.

I honestly didn't think Kaito and Conan would be such a funny pair to write a story with considering they can't interact much in canon as themselves, but the potential for their strange relationship is a goldmine.

Thank you to the readers for reading this, and I can't wait until I can share my next story with you all. I admit this story had a lot of awkward syntax and typos, since I wrote them mostly half-asleep in the middle of the night, but I'll fix them sometime in the future. For now, please see to these two for the last part of their adventure of this dysfunctional fanfic.

Also, that perfume is real. It's actually kind of nice. I recommend it.

Yours,

000

Final chapter: Revelations

As Hakuba flagged down a taxi to take them the rest of the way to the station, Conan numbly stumbled into the car first while staring at Kaito, who was also climbing into the car after him. However, the teen in question seemed to be staring at something in the front seat before his eyes widened in surprise. Kaito then turned around and shoved Hakuba out of car before the door slammed shut and the taxi sped off.

Conan gaped, "Kaito-niichan what-"

"Shh." Kaito shushed him, still looking eerily calm, before turning an icy look towards the front of the car. Conan shuddered. He knew the real KID's face was supposed to look like Shinichi himself, but the level of similarity was really creepy.

"Kaito Kuroba. As I suspected, you are sharper than you seem." The man who was driving drawled out in a deep voice, "Let's get to the point. Who are you? And what do you know about Kaitou KID and Shinichi Kudo?"

The teen turned to look at Conan, giving him an unreadable expression, before turning back to the front again to answer the man. "As flattered as I am that you seem to think I'm more than what I seem, I am just Kaito Kuroba. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Don't be like that." The man cackled, surprising Conan with his reaction, while Kaito looked on coolly. "I just wanted to find them. Or rather, him to ask for a favor."

"A favor?" Kaito repeated, not correcting the man's incorrect assumption. "But why go through me? I can see why someone may think I know more than the general public about KID, being close with Inspector Nakamori and all, but I have no connection to the detective at all."

"That's what one would think!" Their kidnapper exclaimed before continuing, "That's what I thought too! At first all I wanted was to find one of them to ask for a favor, but when a couple of my hired guns mistook a random high school boy for the detective, I was shocked at how similar you looked. Then I looked into your family, and what do you know; your father was a teacher of the Kudo detective's mother."

"And… so what?" Kaito asked, seeing where this was going but still wanting to make sure. "How does that connect me with the son? Even if my late father knew his mother, I don't know the detective myself."

"You can claim that all you want, boy." The man snapped, before continuing. "Do you think I haven't noticed that Kaitou KID started up his heists anew around the same time that detective stopped being in the public eye? However, despite it being borderline impossible to find or contact him, there have been no reports about his death or his disappearance, so someone must know where he is." He paused, before stating his erroneous conclusion. "And you, my friend, are the only person who could possibly hide him in plain sight."

"And you, my friend, are crazy and wrong." Kaito shot back, not missing a beat. "Now I suggest you let us go before you make your crime worse." He then glanced over to the black lump huddled in the passenger seat up front. "And although you two seem to think you've outsmarted me, I suggest you think again. You guys have no idea who you're dealing with."

"Is that so?" Another voice joined the driver, as the addressed lump finally sat up and showed himself. This was probably an accomplice, as the new man glared back at them, pointing a gun towards the two boys sitting in the back. "And what do you mean by that?"

Conan's eyes widened as he saw the weapon brandished at them. His expression seemed to please the newly appeared man as he grinned back, attempting to scare the boy. However, Conan had been surprised for a different reason. _That's a fake gun._ He thought immediately. _It's well made, but it's fake._ He then stole a glance over at his companion, who didn't seem to be at all fazed with the appearance of the weapon.

Anytime earlier before Conan's epiphany today, he would have been second-guessing if the boy next to him had realized this as well, but now, he had the peace of mind that they were on the same page here.

Ironically, in this time of crisis, this earth-shattering knowledge of figuring out the identity of the other boy was a source of _comfort_. Their relationship was seriously messed up.

"The guy I just tossed out before you two kidnapped me is a pretty sharp detective." Kaito replied, "He will track this car down quickly enough."

"Oh." The driver replied, the rearview mirror showing how his expression darkened before he grinned evilly. "In that case, I guess you will have to do, Kaito Kuroba. We don't have enough time to be finding that elusive KID or Kudo. We did just need someone sharp that stays out of the public eye after all."

"Are you talking about the favor?" Kaito asked, frowning. "In that case, let Conan-kun go, and then I'll think about it."

Conan snapped out of his silent stupor as he heard himself being mentioned. _What was he thinking? Of course they will say no. Are you trying to buy time?_

This time, both of the men up front laughed at the suggestion. "Are you serious? Of course not." The man with the gun responded, chuckling again. "It's cute you think you have a choice here. Besides, why would you listen to us if this brat wasn't here as a hostage?"

Kaito sighed, looking disappointed. "Well, I had to try."

Conan would have marveled at the levelheadedness and the silent confidence the other teen exuberated in the face of kidnappers and potential murderers, if not for his newfound knowledge regarding the boy's alter ego. Speaking of which, something from this conversation was missing, and it was bothering the detective to no end. "Hey mister." The boy piped up, for the first time talking to the kidnapper who was facing them, "Where is the 'one'?"

"Conan-kun" Kaito muttered, frowning disapprovingly down at his charge. "Stay back-"

However, the concerned teen was cut off by the driving man's response, "Ah this boy is sharp." He continued, ignoring the cold look Kaito gave him, "Where we placed the 'one' leads exactly to the favor we wanted to ask of your niichan there."

Conan didn't respond, silently waiting for more information from the strange duo.

"The last number in the countdown is on a bomb, but this one is remote controlled from here." The man said, "All I can tell you is that it's placed somewhere where there will be a lot of victims if not retrieved. However," he paused, "if you get a certain jewel for us, we will let you know where it is."

"You've already got people hostage then." Kaito grumbled, still not showing any hint of being troubled, "No need to have Conan-kun here."

What Kaito was saying was true, but only if the men really _did_ have several innocent civilians hostage. But did they really? Conan honestly had a hard time believing them. 'Three' and 'two' have both proven to be only potentially deadly, since the fatal aspects of both of the two threats have been easily nullified. Even if the harm of 'three' was escaped only due to Kaito's skills, their captors could have easily notified authorities anonymously if they had failed their 'test'. Not only that, the 'two' was a real bomb, but it was easily identifiable and thus easily avoidable.

On top of that, with the guy brandishing a fake gun up front, there was no reason for them to believe that 'one' would be a real threat as well.

These guys were criminals, sure, but they were not willing to take casualties unless needed. _In that case…_ Conan pondered, _following the trend, I think I know where the 'one' is._ He frowned as an annoying thought hit him, _however, they are probably not lying about the remote controlled bomb. Although, unlike most terrible criminals, they will actually not let the bomb blow up if Kaito follows through with their request._

"That's true, but why would you believe us? You may think we are calling a bluff and just leave the job. Unlike the detective and the thief, who have a reputation of being stubbornly against putting _anyone's_ life at risk, we don't know about you." The driving man retorted, "Now quit trying to get the kid out of this. It's too late."

Kaito sighed once again. "Ok, so what jewel do you want? Spit it out. I'm not going to let Tantei-kun here die."

"'Tantei-kun?'" The man asked, rightfully a little confused at the nickname.

"Just a nickname, don't worry about it. Come on, just let me know what you want."

It was surreal. The new knowledge was making everything so surreal. ' _I'm not going to let Tantei-kun here die_ ' This was the second time the teen had spoken that in a sarcastic tone while in a car with him. However, now Conan knew that 'sarcastic' line was heavier than it seemed. The teen next to him really had gone out of his way several times to make sure that Conan did not die. Additionally, he had thought that nickname, 'Tantei-kun', was just because he seemed to be a kid playing detective, but this was also heavier than he had initially thought. Kaito had meant it. He had always seen him as a real detective.

"Now we're talking." This time the man with the gun spoke, making sure to cock the gun at the teen again to make sure he was paying attention. "We want the jewel, 'Fates', that is at the Beika Museum this month."

"Jewel? That's a crystal ball." Kaito retorted, frowning. "You're threatening death over a glass ball?"

"Whatever you think; that's no ordinary glass ball-" the man started to spit out, before he was cut off by the other man.

"Yes. It is a glass ball that we want very badly. That's all you need to know."

"Hmph…" Kaito responded, rubbing his chin, before glancing over at the little detective next to him. "Was that all we needed to know?"

Conan blinked as he saw the boy next to him looking at him for approval. Every word uttered to him from the teen held a whole new meaning knowing what he knew now. Given the thief's expertise with remote controlled gadgets, he had probably figured out a way to nullify the remote connected to the bomb. Now, the teen had thrown Conan a veiled question, asking if the detective had figured his part out, it being _where_ the actual bomb was. Conan had, but the matter of escaping was a different question. Despite the gun being cocked at them being a fake, there was no doubt that the two criminals had at least _one_ real one on them, considering the shot toolbox from earlier that day.

This was a gamble, but the escape would be a lot smoother and safer if the two boys could work together. "Yes niichan, that's all we need to know from those two men up front. But as from each other, not yet." Conan said, earning a surprised look from his companion. He then looked over at Kaito, meeting him square in the eyes. "I just want to let you know that I really wish we could have been honest about one another a bit earlier." Seeing the frozen demeanor of the other teen, Conan took a deep breath before he uttered his next fateful line. "Then I would have known what a pair we make."

Conan had no doubt that the teen next to him would understand the reference, and the meaning that was now behind the phrase. Way back when back in Kobe, where the two had 'joked', or at least, that's what Conan had thought they were doing, about what a pair they would make if they were KID and Shinichi.

Kaito had laughed back then, not because it was a funny joke, but because he knew back then that they _were_.

Now Conan was signaling that he had realized this too.

"Uh… are you saying last words?" The man with the gun asked, sounding genuinely confused. "As long as your niichan does what we ask, your lives will be fine."

Hearing that fateful declaration of knowledge about his identity, Kaito expected he would have felt different. At least, he expected he would have at least felt some sort of negative emotion. But he barely felt anything bad. Perhaps a sort of relief, maybe, or a sort of joy? _Strange, even though that means a detective figured out my criminal identity_. Kaito then beamed at his newfound friend, suddenly unable to contain his joy. "We wouldn't be that pair if I had told you up front."

Conan blinked back, surprised at the unexpected positive emotion flowing from the exposed criminal. Apparently, even now this guy's insanity made him incomprehensible. "That's true."

"Can I see your watch?" Kaito suddenly asked, reaching out a hand towards Conan, as the boy in question grinned mischievously in response.

"No, I can tell time by myself."

The next few things happened in a blur. It was amazing how easily the two worked, knowing what they knew now about one another's skills. Even if, ironically, that knowledge had been honed due to their initial distrust of one another. Conan had quickly darted the man holding the fake gun, causing him to fall asleep, and before the other man could respond, Kaito had grabbed Conan with one hand and had opened the car door with his other, pulling himself and the small child out of the moving vehicle and onto the car roof.

Kaito then quickly roped himself up onto a bypass, and got him and the detective on solid ground. Conan idly wondered if any passerby's had seen this insane escape, but considering how dark it was outside, and with the small amount of traffic, he wouldn't be surprised if they had escaped being seen. Without exchanging a word, the two looked at each other and ran towards the main road, flagging them a real taxi. Once inside, Kaito flipped open his phone, and while waiting for the power to turn on, finally spoke to Conan for the first time after their crazy escape. "So, where is it?"

"Beika police headquarters. By the back door near the barely used garage." Conan replied sharply. "The-"

"Please take us to Beika police headquarters." Kaito cut him off, letting the driver know where the boys needed to go. He then shook his head at the surprised looking detective. "You detectives talk too much. We need to do what we can first, explain later." He then put his phone up to his ear, "Hey Hakuba?"

" _Don't you 'hey' me Kuroba!"_

Kaito flinched as a loud voice assaulted his ear. Well, he guessed that should have been expected. The way they parted ways wasn't exactly peaceful after all.

" _Where are you? Are you with Edogawa-kun?"_

"Relax, we've escaped and I'm in a real taxi now with the kid. We are now heading to Beika police." Kaito responded calmly, "Do you have someone chasing the car that took us?"

" _Yes. As a matter of fact, I am in one of the cars going after it right now. We were a little late in starting since they got a head start and all, but I see them now. Their driving is very sloppy."_

Kaito laughed at the observation, "It might be because they are a little panicked right now."

" _Kuroba… considering that car is still moving, don't tell me you-"_

"Details, details, who cares? By the way, they've got a remote in that car that could set off a bomb somewhere else. The remote shouldn't work for the time being, but once they get away from the car, it might function again so get that away from them as soon as possible okay?"

A heavy sigh met Kaito's ears _"Thank you for the information, but you're not getting away from explaining yourself later."_ Then he was met with a beeping sound as the phone was hung up from the other side.

"I thought your phone had run out of battery considering it wasn't on when, you know, we were kidnapped back in that weird house." Conan stated, giving his companion a sideways look. Seriously, what the hell was this guy thinking?

"Nah, I turned it off a while ago because Aoko and Hakuba were being annoying. Now I needed it, so I turned it on. That's all there is to it." Kaito responded, shrugging in response. "By the way, do you know anything about that crystal ball?"

Conan paused, giving his companion a measured look, before continuing. "There is a strange legend to it. Something about it being a droplet of water frozen solid into a crystal, and it being a portal to a different world between worlds or something. Though it sounds like the typical mumbo jumbo that surrounds old things to up their publicity and value."

"Where there is no fire, there is no smoke, right?" Kaito responded with a grin, "There must be something to that story then. By the way." He glanced over at the driver, and then lowered his voice and leaned in a bit closer to Conan, so as to make sure he was the only one that could hear. "Took you long enough to figure me out."

That was another veiled question. _Did you really figure it out?_ Conan hadn't actually plainly worded out that he had figured out the other boy's alter ego, after all.

What surprised him though, was the Kaito had actually bothered to try and confirm his discovery in this way. For all the teen knew, Conan could have been pulling a bluff in the car, and this follow up question from the thief would have been walking into that trap. Then it hit him. _He didn't mind._ At this moment, KID, Kaito, had decided that he didn't mind Conan, or rather Shinichi, being privy to that information.

After that second moment of realization, Conan sighed. It seemed the great phantom thief was always a couple steps in front of him. "You are insufferable."

He was only met with a grin, before the taxi finally came to a halt.

Finally arriving at the police station, the two ran into the building only to be accosted by officers who had been in the wait for them. They had arrived an hour later than scheduled after all, and had been informed by Hakuba of their kidnapping situation.

Before they could be swept away for questioning however, Kaito yelled out. "The men that took us have placed a bomb on these premises." Making sure that he now had the attention of the officers, he then gestured over to Conan, "They told Conan-kun where it is. He can lead you to the place, but you guys need to hurry."

Conan nodded, before slipping out of the grasp of one of the officers that had been trying to lead him to the Mouris. "Come on, mister, follow me!" As Conan successfully led several officers to the place in question, his head was buzzing with ways to escape the watch of the officers after they discovered the bomb. No doubt Kaito had done this to not only get the bomb disarmed as soon as possible, but to get the attention of the officers to be diverted to anything other than the teen himself. Conan didn't have to be a genius to figure out what the great Kaitou KID was planning on doing; timing be damned. The insane thief was going to go after the crystal ball _right now._

Once the boy made sure the proper authorities had located the bomb, he made use of the chaos to slip away out of the building. Although Conan was no phantom thief, he was familiar with the police station, and his small size made him not too shabby with sneaking away. Running towards the main road, he managed to snag a taxi before any of the officers realized he was gone. He really was getting a good use of taxis today. "Beika Museum please!"

The driver gave him a weird look, before starting to move the car. "Boy, you do know the Beika Museum is closing in 10 minutes, right?"

"It's okay sir, I'm meeting someone there."

"If you say so." The driver said. "It takes about 5 minutes to get there, so hopefully you can find your person in the 5 minutes left."

"Don't worry about it Mister." Conan replied with a confident smile. "I will."

Beika Museum was a relatively frequent haunting place for the white clad phantom thief, which meant Conan himself was pretty familiar with the layout of the building. Considering the placement of the crystal ball, the timing, the lack of preparation time, the purpose of this unannounced theft, and the thief's strange habit after every jewel theft, Conan knew exactly where he could catch up to his friend.

 _Wait… friend?_ Conan blinked at that last thought, before deciding not to fight it. As weird as it was, they were friends. They always had been in a way, and ironically, now that they both knew about each other's secret identities, more than ever.

Speaking of his crazy friend, there was no way he didn't think Conan wouldn't catch up to him, but there was no way he would wait for him either if he did not. It was a weird sort of trust.

Finally arriving at the museum, Conan jumped out of the taxi after paying the driver and saying his thanks. He took a moment to breathe and look up at the sky. The moon wasn't full, but it was out and it was pure and bright, illuminating the night with its soft glow.

Kaito stood quietly, looking in awe at the glass ball through the gentle light of the moon. Although this sphere was obviously not Pandora, it being crystal and not a jewel after all, it was obvious to him now that the men after it were not kidding when they said it was no ordinary glass ball.

This artifact had _real magic_. It didn't glow red like the kind Akako liked to use, but it glowed a faint blue, so he figured it may have traces of blue magic. Despite being a magician, Kaito didn't know much about the real stuff, so he decided it wouldn't be good to dwell too much on the crystal ball. Since the moon was not full, it probably did not allow the sphere to show what it really should, but the current light had been enough to show that the ball actually did show into some other place.

But now was not the time and the place to care about this. Kaito figured he would leave the real magic to the real witches and sorcerers. He wasn't going to deal with this, and he wasn't going to let the detective, who no doubt would be joining him soon, know about this. That curious little head of his didn't need any more new dangerous topics to dwell on and be involved in.

Speaking of the detective…

"Hey." Conan opened the door to the roof of the Beika Museum, finding the teen he was after standing there with the glass ball in hand, just as he had predicted. "What are you thinking about?"

Kaito blinked at the question. Although he wasn't surprised, he realized that that question was something that had been thrown at him several times before from the little detective, and vice versa. It was something they had asked one another over and over again, both out loud, and undoubtedly, also in their hearts.

Every answer to that question had been unspoken or provided in blatant lies or in half-truths. Kaito grinned. This time, he would be completely honest. They had that luxury now.

"I'm thinking I hate you."

Conan… no, Shinichi smiled at the thorny but honest answer.

"What are _you_ thinking about, Meitantei?"

"I'm also thinking I hate you."

They looked at each other.

"Huh."

"Huh."

THE END

GOODBYE!


	11. BONUS: Deleted Scenes

Bonus chapter: Deleted Scenes

Note: Scenes that didn't work out because either 1, I couldn't fit them in or because 2, I wasn't sure how to continue the story after such a scene.

At first I was considering putting in either the black org or the organization after KID as the main villians, but I wasn't sure how much I could handle canon villains without making it too serious. I wanted to keep this true to the genre of humor after all.

Additionally, regarding the crystal ball in the last chapter, it is just a part of my cheap reference to a recent Fire Emblem game, 'Fates' where there are three paths: the light path (easy mode), the dark path (hard mode), and the invisible path. (Canon mode, the title is 'revelations' and one of the two main characters resolves the secret they couldn't in the other two modes, and it involves going into a different world accessible through a lake)

All 3 paths lead to some ending but only the last one resolves everything.

* * *

 **Ch. 1**

 _ **Hospital scene – actually waking up to someone there. Take 1**_

 _(Vermouth mistakes him as Shinichi lol)_

The boy groggily forced himself to sit up, but was met with a sharp pain in his head again. Well, at least it seemed his hands were in working order, he noted faintly as he examined his hands. Kaito slowly looked around the room as he tried to assess his situation. He froze as his blood turned cold at who he saw sitting by his bed, smiling innocently as if she belonged there.

"Oh, you're finally awake."

A sweet, but barely familiar voice spoke. Kaito had met this woman as KID before, but never as himself, or so he thinks. Either way, this was way too unnatural. Besides, being a master of disguises himself, he could tell this woman was a fake. Unnatural twice, so to speak; things looked bad up in here.

Flinching in discomfort at the movement but being unable to help himself due to fear, Kaito backed away as much as he could from the woman. "Who are you?"

Yukiko Kudo, or at least the woman with her face stopped smiling. "You don't know me?" She then put a finger to her chin as if to ponder something, before showing the barrel of a gun under her sleeve with her other hand. "Interesting. Then I guess you weren't who I feared you were."

 _ **Hospital scene – actually waking up to someone there. Take 2 (Conan forces his way in)**_

The boy groggily forced himself to sit up, but was met with a sharp pain in his head again. Well, at least it seemed his hands were in working order, he noted faintly as he examined his hands. Kaito slowly looked around the room as he tried to assess his situation. A casual sweep around the room let him know that there was no one around. Yet, strangely enough, he felt a presence other than his own. Call it instinct if you will. _Maybe a ghost?_ Kaito joked to himself, before chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Kaito almost jumped out of his skin as he heard a voice that he never wanted to hear unawares, and never wanted to hear directed to him as his civilian self. Looking over to where the voice had originated, he saw a mop of brown hair with that dreaded cowlick and a pair of glinting glasses facing him. It seems Conan had been sitting on the ground next to the hospital bed, waiting for him to wake up.

Swallowing the million questions he _should_ have asked first, Kaito couldn't help but start with a snarky comment. "It's unsanitary to sit on the hospital floor, you know."

 _ **Scene where Conan realizes he's been outsmarted – begins suspecting Kaito to be KID**_

Conan was…bewildered. Had he just been outsmarted and then shown mercy? What the hell _was_ that guy?! And to top it all off, it turned out that the teen had known this entire time that Conan had been the one to have found the teen being attacked. Which meant… he had known Conan had been lying from the moment they met each other in that alleyway? Dear god this teen was turning out to be way slippier than Conan would have ever imagined.

What _was_ this guy? Not to mention the way he refused to leave evidence like fingerprints and writings behind had not gone unnoticed by the detective. Conan frowned as these minute details rang something familiar in his mind. _Slippery, intelligent, not personally heavily involved with the police, looks like his teenage self, unnaturally careful even around a child like Conan… seriously… could he be?_

It would make sense but… _really?_ He couldn't jump to conclusions like that. Perhaps he was just hoping that teen to be as harmless and as capable as his gut feeling was telling him.

"Hey brat!" Conan was snapped out of his mini shock as Sonoko yelled into his ear.

 **Ch.5**

 _ **Planning out Heiji's prank**_

"Well you did say our type becomes the best kind of audience once impressed." Conan countered cheekily, "This is good rehearsal, don't you think?"

"I can help execute them; but you have to come up with the ideas though." Kaito responded. He wasn't going to risk this Hattori recognizing the style of the pranks being too KID-like and having him complaining to Conan about it, observations and all.

Conan seemed to ponder for a moment before his face lit up. Kaito instinctively backed up in his seat, a little alarmed at the expression on his companion's face.

"Hey what… are you thinking about?" Kaito prodded, a little afraid to ask.

"How to have fun with Heiji-niichan of course." Conan said, blinking. He then smiled innocently, before he leaned over eagerly, "So Heiji-niichan likes Ellery Queen…"

"Wait…" Kaito gasped out after hearing the details from Conan. _That's your idea of a PRANK?_ "are you really friends with this guy?"

 **Ch.8**

 _ **Scene where Conan finds out Hakuba is Kaito's classmate – what he thinks**_

Conan gaped. "Hakuba? As in Saguru Hakuba the high school detective?"

"Yes! He's so cool and handsome and smart!" the girl sighed, "If only Kaito would get along with him."

Knowing that _the_ Saguru Hakuba was a classmate of Kaito's threw a whole new wrench into the mix. Conan wasn't sure if he should be happy about a possible new resource, or be wary of another party that could potentially blow his own cover.

Conan was a bit surprised though; if Kaito spent so much time with the meticulous detective and still hadn't been 'caught' as KID, then maybe the suspicious boy really wasn't the thief. He didn't really want to gain more support for his strange theory that Kaito was, in fact, really _close_ to the thief instead of _being_ him, but things were starting to look bad already.

Conan decided he could think about the details later when they (or if they even) ran into the detective on their "research" trip today. Besides, he needed to explain more of the situation to Haibara, considering the amount of evil eye she was giving him at the moment.

 **Ch.9**

 _ **Nonexistent scene – Kaito and Conan are trapped somewhere and they think they're doomed (Kind of like that scene with Takagi and Conan in that one special where they almost die in that elevator) and Conan still thinks Kaito and KID are lovers**_

"Don't worry about it Tantei-kun" Kaito whispered, a wistful but gentle smile gracing his features. "He'll know, and he'll understand."

"Bu-" Kaito placed a finger elegantly on the boy's lips.

"Conan-kun" Kaito said the name with a hint of sadness. "I wish we could have…"

"-been honest." Conan finished. He didn't know why he said that, but the déjà vu he felt from the uncharacteristic, yet somehow fitting act from Kaito making him do so. They both shared a moment of silence with one another, only one party knowing the entire story.

"Maybe some other time." Kaito said, grinning with a new gleam in his eye, as he seemed to have noticed something new.

 _ **Nonexistent scene – Kaito and Conan have some deep discussion that I can't write and doesn't work with their characters while they are trapped in that room.**_

"What is the most important thing to you?" Kaito started up a conversation nonchalantly. They were trapped in this stupid room until who knows when, so he might as well try to get to know the detective better. Who knows, he might even be slightly honest if the questions were vague enough.

Conan frowned, a bit puzzled at the question. "Where did that come from?"

"The truth?" Kaito pressed on. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground by provoking him, but it was too funny to pass up. "No… it can't be, is it?"

"What do you mean by that?" Conan asked, sounding a bit annoyed. Although he knew Kaito shouldn't know that Conan lived a lie, it still sounded like a personal jab at him. "How about you? Justice or something?"

Kaito laughed, "Maybe. What is justice anyway?"

Conan pondered the question for a moment. He couldn't believe he was having this type of conversation as a 7 year old with some teenager he hadn't known for even a month. "The safety of the life and happiness of loved ones?"

"That involves your own… life and happiness." Kaito responded, and then stopped himself. For some odd reason he felt dirty saying that. He was used to lying, but the extreme hypocrisy of what he just said bothered him a smidgeon.

Conan had given him a guilty look too. "Then what?"

 **Ch.3 and Ch. 10**

 _ **car scenes: Conan gets another word in.**_

 _ **With Nakamori in the car on the way to the train station**_

"I won't let Tantei-kun here die." Kaito promised, getting a bad feeling about the case already.

Conan blinked at the statement. Although he knew the overly dramatic promise was mostly likely a joke considering the circumstances, it somehow _felt_ like it was said with 100% seriousness. And so, Conan was not one to be outdone. "I won't let you die either." He said back, meeting his seatmate square in the eye, giving him his trademark piercing detective look.

Conan had meant the dramatic response to be a joke, but for some reason Kaito had responded by physically backing up and an expression of pure fear.

"What's wrong with you?" Conan asked, before laughing. Although weird, the response had been way too funny to _not_ laugh at. "You look like I threatened to murder you or something."

Kaito, for one, felt like he had been stabbed in the heart the moment the kid had turned that dreaded knowing look at him. Far from keeping him safe, that detective was going to be the death of him. _I seriously, SERIOUSLY hate you._

 _ **With kidnappers in the car on the way to who knows where**_

Kaito sighed once again. "Ok, so what jewel do you want? Spit it out. I'm not going to let Tantei-kun here die."

"'Tantei-kun?'" The man asked, rightfully a little confused at the nickname.

"Just a nickname, don't worry about it. Come on, just let me know what you want."

It was surreal. The new knowledge was making everything so surreal. ' _I'm not going to let Tantei-kun here die_ ' This was the second time the teen had spoken that in a sarcastic tone while in a car with him. However, now Conan knew that 'sarcastic' line was heavier than it seemed. The teen next to him really had gone out of his way several times to make sure that Conan did not die. Additionally, he had thought that nickname, 'Tantei-kun', was just because he seemed to be a kid playing detective, but this was also heavier than he had initially thought. Kaito had meant it. He had always seen him as a real detective.

"Kaito-niichan." Conan said softly, "Remember, that goes both ways. I won't let you die either."

Kaito looked over at his companion, meeting his eyes as he did so. The last time Conan had said this, he had scared him to no end by giving him that dreaded detective look. However, this time the little boy's look was determined and set. For some odd reason, Kaito felt more fear than last time seeing this quiet look, but he also felt mixed in with it a sort of… comfort. For all the time he had spent with him for the past few weeks, Kaito still couldn't get a good read on what Conan was thinking at these crucial moments. _What are you thinking about?_ _Gods I hate you._

000

Thanks for reading.

I'm done with this for real now.

A sequel is in the works, but it will be way sillier than "Externalities", which was already pretty lighthearted.


End file.
